Bane of the Time Lord
by Shadu
Summary: He's been suffering longer than anyone knew. Dying is more like it. But now, it's coming to a head. Racing against time to find a cure that shouldn't exsist, will he save himself? Rose/Ten
1. Ch 1: Silent TARDIS

The hum of the green, lighted center column was the only sound in the expansive room aside from the soft clicking and tapping of metal on metal coming from underneath the console. It was there, the sound of tinkering, but it was ever so light. The hum nearly drowned it out.

Rose Tyler, a nineteen year-old female human walked out into the control room. She was elegant and quite stunning, but very spunky and more than a match for her maniac companion, the Doctor.

She found it a little odd; she couldn't ever remember a time when the control room, or even the TARDIS in general, was this quiet. It was practically silent, and she felt certain that if a pin dropped, she would hear it. Usually while they were in the TARDIS, the Doctor was jumping around the console, flipping this, pumping that, spinning dials and pressing buttons with more energy than she ever knew any thing could possess. And if he wasn't doing that, he was fervently messing with something on the console, muttering or singing to himself, sometimes even playing music, while his hands worked rapidly away.

But she heard nothing like that today. No talking, no singing, no music, no tinkering. There was no jumping or running. Just the hum of the engine and the faint clanking of metal hung in the air. The Doctor was no where to be seen.

She glanced to one of the support beams, glittery and gold, its shape vaguely reminding her of underwater coral. His light brown trench coat was lying in its usual crook. At least she knew he hadn't left her.

She perked as she noticed that what few fidgeting noises there had been floating in the air had fallen silent, leaving only the engine's whirring for noise. Her eyebrow unconsciously cocked itself a little at the anomaly, and she slowly started to walk around the console. Halfway through her orbit, she found what she was looking for.

The Doctor, a mysterious man who looked to be in his twenties or so, had half his body shoved under the console, casting dark shadows across his young face. Although he appeared quite human, Rose knew otherwise. He was far from it. However, it didn't bother Rose very much. So far as she was concerned, he was her constant companion, and furthermore, her friend.

Her head titled a little. With a wrench in one hand and his trusty sonic screwdriver in the other, it appeared he was messing with the TARDIS again, though his hands lay still. He, himself, was just lying there, his dark brown hair, wildly flung across his face, sonic screwdriver held tightly in the hand that laid on his chest, the wrench loosely held in at his side in the other. Clad in his usual brown, pinstriped pants and coat, he looked as he usually did, save for his lack of tennis shoes and socks. What he was doing bare foot, Rose didn't dare ask.

For a second, she truly believed he used up his allotted vigor and had finally just died. She honestly thought that both his hearts had given out. To watch him, it wasn't very hard to believe. Despite his appearance, he was actually a nine-hundred year-old Time Lord. It still shocked Rose that someone as old as he was could have more energy than he knew what to do with.

She hesitantly took a step forward before letting out a sigh of relief from a breath she didn't realize she had been holding when she saw he was still breathing lightly.

Sleeping.

The man with a seemingly endless store of energy was actually sleeping. It was so surreal to her. Never before had she caught him sleeping. Not that it was a crime or anything, but his vigor seemed boundless. She guessed he had probably fallen asleep while working on the TARDIS, as was evident by the tools in his hand as well as his current position.

"Doctor?" Rose called, lightly kicking his knee.

The Doctor jerked up, giving a surprised snort, and whacked his forehead on the edge of the console piece he was lying under. He fell back a little with a groan before easing his body out and sitting up on the floor, rubbing his injured head where a long, red mark spanned his forehead.

"Oi! What'd you scare me like that for?" he asked Rose.

He was wide awake now, all traces of sleep gone from his dark eyes.

"Not my fault. I wasn't sure whether you were alive or not," Rose put her hands on her hips.

"You what?"

"I thought, just for a moment that you were dead. That you had checked out."

"You thought I was dead? Whatever for?"

"You was sleepin', you were, and I've never see you do that before. I was worried."

"Well, as amazing as I am, I do sleep. Even Time Lords need sleep you know. I just sleep while you aren't paying attention, when you're sleeping," he grinned. "How else could I possibly have the energy to keep up with this old ship and you as well?"

Rose laughed. "Okay, so you sleep. But tell me, how come you decided to sleep on the floor with your head in the center console?"  
"Oh…right. Well…it's unexpected, right? Gotta keep you on your toes!"

Rose shook her head a little, but couldn't stifle a little laugh. She dropped her arms and watched the Doctor. His head ducked under the console again and he gave his sonic screwdriver one last squeeze, shining it on something to finalize the change before closing up the panel and jumping to his feet. He was all smiles and grins now, his eyes bright and excited.

"So, where to you want to go?" he stood in front of the monitor on the console, hopping from one foot to the other in anticipation.

"Don't you usually choose?" Rose pointed out.

"Yeah, but I'm feeling generous today. And lazy. Very lazy," he smiled.

"I dunno. You choose. You've never disappointed me before."

"No? What about all those times we ended up in the wrong place?"

Rose shrugged. "Ah, so what? They were an adventure all the same."

"Well, still, I don't really feel like picking this time. I don't want to work that hard. So, Rose Tyler, it's your decision. Where would you like to go?"

Rose lightly bit her lip as she thought, her eyes roving up to the roof. Then they dropped back down to the Doctor and a small, almost ashamed, smile came onto her face.

"Well…I was kind of hoping we could go see my mum," Rose tenderly stated.

"Oh, do we have to?" was the Doctor's reply.

"What?"

"I can take you anywhere, any when, and you wanna see your mum?"

"She's probably worried about me."

"Don't you call her regularly? And don't say no because I know you do."

"Yeah, I do, but I know she still worries. You can hear it when you talk to her. She needs to see me every now and again. Besides, I've kind of wanted to check on her since we narrowly escaped that black hole. Just to know…everything in my universe is okay."

"But…anywhere! We could go anywhere! And when. We could go any when!"

Rose laughed. "Alright Mr. Smartbritches, do you have a place in mind then?"

The Doctor paused, sighed, and hung his head in mock shame, but a little smile creased his face all the same.

"To your mum's it is then," he looked up at her, his eyes twinkling.

With a pull of a lever, punch of a button, and a spin of a dial, the huge center column began to creak to life, moving like a pump, up and down, gaining speed with each cycle. The engine began its signature wheeze as it revved up and started for their destination.

"And you better behave when we get there!" Rose called to the Doctor over the almost deafening noise.

The Doctor flashed his winning grin at her. "Of course. Don't I always?"

Rose just laughed.


	2. Ch 2: Home is Waiting

Rose poked her head tentatively out of the TARDIS' door, half expecting to be somewhere else, somewhere unexpected. She smiled as she saw that it had once again landed right around the corner from her apartment, right where the Doctor had planned. For once, the TARDIS actually did exactly what he wanted. She briefly looked up at the ship, her mind wandering for a moment.

TARDIS, or "Time And Relative Dimensions In Space." It was a wonderful machine, really, albeit a little on the quirky side. The Doctor had told her a while ago that it was actually supposed to blend into its surroundings by means of a Chameleon Circuit. That's what most TARDIS ships did. But the circuit in his had busted long ago, trapping it in the rather humorous shape of a blue, 1950's police box. Rose, however, liked it all the same. She really couldn't imagine it any other way, and she was pretty sure the Doctor felt the same. Otherwise, it might've been fixed by now.

Rose stepped out into the cool, afternoon air, stretching and looking around at the familiar sights as the Doctor followed behind her.

"Must be nearly winter," she noted.

"It's October, I believe, if the dial on the TARDIS is to be trusted anyhow," the Doctor absently replied, locking the TARDIS door behind him.

"Feels like. Oooh! I love this time of year!"

The Doctor smiled. "It's not bad."

"What season's your favorite?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. A season with excitement and adventure."

Rose laughed. "With you, that's any season."

"Then that's my favorite," he grinned mischievously. "Any season." He received a playful punch for that.

The Doctor finished with the door and came up beside Rose, hands in his tan trench coat's pockets. She looked up at him expectantly and laughed as he playfully wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"Stop it," she chuckled, lightly pushing him.

They began to walk together down the street, and around the corner. It was a normal day as far as Rose could tell. Kids ran about the street, playing with balls and bikes. School was obviously out for the day. A group ran past Rose and the Doctor, giving them both a casual wave as they did so, laughing and giggling.

Rose looked at the Doctor, who seemed to have a distant look in his eye as he watched the children around him. She put her arms around him, jerking him back to reality.

"Were you a child once?" Rose asked him.

"That's a bizarre question," the Doctor cocked his head. "What brought that on?"

"Just the way you were watching the kids, I was wondering if you had a childhood."

"I was actually thinking about something else. But everyone, everything, is a child at some point. I'm no different."

"Did you have a mum and dad?"

"Of course. There has to be both of those to create a kid."

"No, I mean, were they around when you were a kid?"

"Oh, well. I'd really rather not talk about it."

"Oh come on! Why not?"

The Doctor sighed a little. "It's the past. It doesn't matter."

Rose watched him for a second more, but then let it, and his arm, drop as they approached the door to her apartment. He always acted in that manner, and that's the way he was. She knew that, and accepted it. All the same, it still frustrated her.

Rose was the one to knock on the door when they reached it. It was just a few moments of waiting before the door flew open.

Jackie Tyler, a middle-aged woman who looked almost like an older, shorter, version of Rose, was the one to answer the door.

"Whatever it is you're selling, I don't…want any," she trailed off when she saw who was standing at her doorstep. Her eyes widened and for a moment, she was speechless. Then, her face broke into a broad smile. "Rose!" Jackie pulled her daughter into a tight hug, one Rose returned happily. "And the Doctor!" she pulled away, giving him a hug, which made him grunt a little. "What are you two doing here?" she stepped back.

"Oh, just thought we'd stop by," the Doctor grinned. "Have a cup of tea, chit chat a little. You know? The usual."

"There's no funny business going on this time, is there?" Jackie whispered to Rose. "You know how much I want of that."

"No mum, no funny business. I just wanted to see you," Rose smiled.

"Isn't that sweet?" Jackie grinned. "Your timing couldn't be better! Do come in! Come on, come in and sit!"

Rose looked to the Doctor, who shrugged innocently, before the pair followed the bubbling mother inside. The Doctor immediately took to a soft cushion on the couch while Rose went into the kitchen to help Jackie with tea for the three of them.

"So, mum, what did you mean by 'your timing couldn't be better?' Coming from you, that sounds awful dangerous," Rose asked as she pulled cups from the cupboard.

"You're one to talk! But I meant what I said," Jackie filled a kettle with water and set it on the stove. "I been meanin' to take a vacation for a long time. When's the last time you can remember either of us going on a vacation?"

"I dunno," Rose shook her head truthfully. "Been years."

"Precisely. I don't want a long one, really. Just a little touch of one. A day somewhere, you know? Nothing fancy. But either I've never had the funds or I just didn't feel all that motivated to go. Recently, however, I came into some money."

"How?"  
"Never mind that! The Devil's in the details, he is. But anyway, I did an' I told myself, I said 'Jackie, you need a holiday, you do.' So, I bought some round-trip tickets to go to the beach for a couple of days."

"Really? That's wonderf-wait. You said 'tickets,' as in more than one. Plural. Why?"

"For three, of course!"

"Three?"

Jackie smiled at her daughter. "I had a feeling, or rather, a really strong hope, that you'd be here for my trip. Of course, I bought one for the Doctor too. Can't leave him behind, can we?"

Rose smiled a little in return and leaned in close to her mom's ear. "He was an afterthought, wasn't he?"

"No!" Jackie abruptly, and loudly, objected, startling the Doctor in the other room. "Yes," she sheepishly whispered back. "But only a slight one! At least I remembered him before it was too late to do anything about it, right?"

Rose chuckled. "I suppose. So, when is this trip? Soon?"

"Why, it's tomorrow. That's why I was saying you're great with timing, although I was thinking you wouldn't make it," she paused. "You two are coming, aren't you? You aren't just here and then off again, are you?"

Rose lovingly hugged her mom. "Of course not! We're coming! We came to visit you anyway, or I did. Even if he doesn't want to go to the beach, I will. I've always wanted to go to the beach. You know that."

Jackie's smile stretched from ear to ear. "Glad to hear it!"

"What are you two plotting in there?" the Doctor called. "I have to say, it makes me a little nervous."

Rose smiled at him, bringing the cups with her into the living room and sat beside the Doctor on the couch.

"Mum's invited us to go to the beach with her tomorrow," Rose informed him.

"She what?" the Doctor jumped.

"She's taking a vacation and has a ticket for each of us too."

"How'd she even know we'd be here for it?"

"Just a hope she said. So, you're coming right?"

"Rose, I'm not much of a beach person, really. Can't you two go without me?"

"No can do sweetheart," Jackie interrupted, bringing the pot with her as she came to sit on the chair. "I have three tickets, and I don't want any of them to go to waste."

"Blimey, can't you give one to your boyfriend or something? I'm sure he'd love to come along."

"No, honey," Jackie shook her head, pouring tea into cups. "You look like you need a break almost as much as I do."

Always the mother, Rose thought to herself. Her mom was a mother first and foremost, even to someone like the Doctor. He was a nine-hundred year-old alien, and yet, she acted like she was his mom.

"Then I'll relax here. I'm sure this place would be more relaxing anyway."

"Oh, come on!" Rose tugged his arm. "You'll love the beach! I know you will. It'll be great."

"Rose, I-"

"Please? For me?"

The Doctor looked down at Rose's hopeful face, and with a long sigh, consented. "Alright. I'll go with you two to the beach tomorrow."

"That's the spirit!" Jackie smiled, handing him his cup of tea.

"Just don't expect me to like it," the Doctor pointed stated. "Especially you," his finger shook a little at Rose.

Rose laughed. "You'll love it!"

The Doctor fell quiet, just watching the two females chat and laugh together. He just let them, not really feeling a part in it. His heart sank a little. He was a ghost, a very sad and blue ghost, he realized. They tried included him, but that just made his feeling worse. He just sat and watched sadly, an ominous feeling weighing heavily upon him.


	3. Ch 3: Beach Bums

The bus eased to a stop, the air brakes hissing as they let off the pressure. Jackie was the first off, bounding out of the bus. She wore a tank top and shorts to cover her bathing suit until she was ready to swim, and she had a large beach bag slung over her shoulder with dark sunglasses protecting her eyes and flip-flops on her feet to top it all off. She rather looked like a normal beach-goer. Rose was next to follow, also wearing short shorts and a tank top to cover her bathing suit, her long, blonde hair up in a ponytail with sandals covering her feet as well. The last to leave the safety of the bus was the Doctor, reluctantly following the others in jeans and an old, grey-brown t-shirt, both articles of clothing being things that Jackie had just found lying around the apartment. Even though he looked the least like a typical beach visitor, Rose was happy with what he was wearing. She had just barely managed to convince him to leave his pinstripe suit and tan trench coat at the apartment, telling him that it would help him to blend in if he changed clothes. When he relayed that he didn't really care about that, Rose noted that sand would get everywhere and he would be finding it in his clothes forever afterwards. While the blending factor didn't get him, the sand did. He didn't want to get sand in every crevasse of his beloved clothes.

The air was rather warm here; the touch of winter hadn't gotten the beach yet. The group had gotten up early to make it to the beach in plenty of time to enjoy and relax. The sun had only been up a matter of a couple of hours when they arrived there. Already, there were a few people walking about on the beach, but for the time being, it was fairly deserted.

"It's wonderful!" the Doctor heard Rose exclaim as her and her mom went on ahead, bounding onto the sand. "I didn't know the sea was so…big!"

He slowly trotted along behind the two, although they were quickly pulling away from him, his hands stuck into his pockets. His fingers curled around the sonic screwdriver in an unconscious gesture. He never left home without it.

When he reached the sand's edge, he paused, looking at it for a second as though it would move out of his way. Sighing softly, he removed his converse tennis shoes and socks in two fluid motions, stuffing his socks inside his shoes, before proceeding. He didn't want to get sand in them either.

By the time his feet finally hit the warm sand, Rose and Jackie were already down the beach and staking out their claim of sand, laying out beach towels. The Doctor walked over, feeling his feet sink into the sand with each step and the pleasant feeling of the grains filling the space between each toe, even spilling over the tops of his feet occasionally. He knew that, later, the sand would be hot, and probably unbearable, but for now, it was nice. He sauntered over and stopped near Rose, watching Jackie shove an umbrella shaft into the ground.

"It's about time you joined us!" Jackie nearly shrieked. "I was thinkin' you had managed to get lost in the first five minutes on the beach!"

"Nah," the Doctor nonchalantly replied. "Just taking my time," he smiled. "Isn't that why you insisted I come, to relax?"

"Yeah, but gheez, any slower and a snail could beat you."

"You're going to swim with us, aren't you?" Rose ignored her mother and looked up at him.

"Me? Nah. I'm not really a fan of saltwater," the Doctor glanced to the expansive ocean. "It…stings my eyes."

"Stings mine too, but that never stops me," Jackie scolded.

"Well then, by all means, knock yourself out."

"You go to swim in the ocean to do a beach trip proper. Everyone knows that."

"Ah, well, maybe later in that case. Besides, I don't even have swim trunks."

"Suit yourself," Rose shrugged, shooting a look at her mom. "If you don't wanna swim, no one's going to make you now."

The Doctor smiled gratefully at Rose.

Jackie shook her head, and then pulled off her tank top, revealing a rather modest pink and red bikini underneath, although she left her shorts on. The Doctor looked at Jackie, but he really didn't take notice.

Rose followed her mom's example and got ready to swim, taking off her shirt and wiggling out of her shorts to show a slightly less modest red bikini. The Doctor's cheeks flushed, turning a color that just about matched Rose's bathing suit and he suddenly found the abandoned lifeguard stand behind him very interesting. Rose laughed at this.

"Well, if you won't swim, will you stay here and protect our things?" Jackie asked.

The Doctor willingly looked at her and grinned. "Of course. Those things won't be running off anywhere while I'm here."

"They'd better not," Rose chuckled. "Mum'll have you working as her slave for the next year if they do."

The Doctor mock saluted. "Roger! Understood ma'am!"

"Wonderful!" Jackie smiled. "Come on then, Rose."

The Doctor sat on one of the rather plush towel, his weight sinking it into the sand a little, and watched the pair scamper off toward the sea. When he saw them splash merrily into the water, he decided to lie down on the towel and relax. His back was on the towel, his body easing down into the sand cushion below. The umbrella Jackie had placed was just in the correct position, shielding his face from the sunlight. He smiled, crossing one leg over the other and putting his hands under his head. It was nice out, he thought to himself contentedly. Just at the perfect temperature for him. The sand was pleasant through the towel, warming his back. It eased his body, and his mind was becoming a little groggy. It wasn't very often he got to lie there and just chill. Although it was all because of his decisions, it was his choice to always be on the go, he could see the sense in slowing down once in a blue moon. His eyelids began to droop, slowly slipping shut. Then his mind began to drift off, wondering what the future held, what was coming…

"I don't think I've ever seen him willingly be that still," a voice above him whispered. "I mean he's usually such a spazz."

"Mum, be nice," another voice scolded, although it too was quiet.

"I'm serious though. Do you think he dreams?"

"What?"

"You know, do you think he dreams like we do?"

"I dunno. Why don't you ask him?"

"Ask him? I don't want to intrude, I just want to know if he dreams."

"Yes, in fact, I do," the Doctor replied suddenly, his eyes flickering open. "When I sleep, I dream, just like every other intelligent being in the universe."

"About what?" Jackie cocked her head.

The Doctor gave a smirk. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Jackie gave a snort.

He looked up to see the two girls looking critically down at him. He suddenly felt self-consciousness creep over him, his wide eyes rapidly switching between the two females.

"What? You two are looking at me like I've gone and grown an extra head," he paused long enough to let his jaw drop. "I have, haven't I?" Rose couldn't help but laugh as he sat up and frantically running his hands over his head, neck and shoulders. "I knew I shouldn't have played with all that radiation as a kid!"

"No, no, it's nothing like that," Rose chuckled.

"You were sleepin'!" Jackie broke in.

"Since when was that a crime? Because if it is, you lot break the law frequently."

"It isn't, not yet, it's just weird is all."

"Weird?"

"Yeah, weird to see you so still. The only time I can recall you sleeping is when-"

"I regenerated, I know. But I do need to recharge every now and then, just like everything else."

"Right," Rose chuckled, not sounding completely convinced. Her head titled a little when she saw his hand unconsciously rise to his neck and begun to scratch a little, but only for a few seconds before he winced and dropped his hand back down, showing red marks that his finger nails had left. For a moment, Rose's mind told her it had been there before. But she shook that off. It couldn't be that way. It was definitely left by his scratching. "What's that then?"

"What's what?" the Doctor looked at her, puzzled.

"You have red on your neck. Like a rash or something."

"Oh. That," the Doctor shrugged. "It's…ah…irritation from the collar. And me scratching it of course. Too much starch."

"Are you insulting my laundry?" Jackie's voice rose several levels, her hands jumping to her hips.

"No! Nonononono!" the Doctor raised his hands quickly. "Nothing like that! It just got a little more starch than the others, that's all. It happens, even if you do everything right. It's just one of those things. Happens to me all the time. I remember the first time I tried to wash anything, I was sure I had followed the instructions, down to the last point, but it still turned out much too stiff. I've gotten better since then, why I-"

"Doctor!" Jackie cut him short. "I get it. That's enough."

He fell quiet for a moment, his eyes going between the two faces. "So…what brings you two back?"

"Lunch of course."

"I'm starving," Rose added, putting a hand to her growling stomach for emphasis.

"Really? But we've only just arrived," the Doctor noted.

"No, we've been here for hours. It's just a little after noon."

"Is it really?" the Doctor laughed. "I guess my internal clock is a bit off. Imagine, a Time Lord with a faulty internal clock."

"Maybe that's why the TARDIS takes us to the wrong places some times," Rose smiled.

The Doctor grinned back. "Maybe. I should really have that fixed then."

Rose chuckled. "If only it were that simple."

"Yeah. So, lunch time?"

"Yeah, Mum and I were going to go to a burger place just a little ways into town. One of the regulars on the beach told us about it. It sounds wonderful, really. You're coming with us, yeah?"

"I dunno," the Doctor shrugged. "Shouldn't someone stay here and guard this spot? I mean, it is a really nice spot. Be a shame to lose it."

"Nonsense!" Jackie fervently shook her head. "A spot is a spot, but your health is important."

"What's that mean?" the Doctor tensed. "I'm in great health."

"You're too skinny, you are! You have to eat!" the Doctor opened his mouth to say something. "And don't make the excuse about being a Time Lord or anything like that. I don't know all that much about Time Lords and aliens and such, but I do know that you're too skinny."

"And what makes you assume that?"

"You weren't a twig when I first met you."

The Doctor chuckled at that.

He admitted it; he had more presence in his ninth regeneration's form. Although he hadn't been just a big brute back then, he had been bigger. The Doctor recalled wearing that leather jacket briefly after he had regenerated into his present form, before promptly collapsing. That thing had been huge on him then, even though he remembered fitting into it perfectly earlier. That's what regeneration did to a fellow though.

"So, I lost a little girth when I regenerated, wouldn't be the first time. It's nothing to fret about," the Doctor insisted.

Jackie came over and slapped the backside of his head with her open palm. The Doctor's hands instantly flew to his injured skull.

"Ow! Gheez, what was that for?" the Doctor glared. "I'm going to get a bloody concussion if you keep that up."

"Just because your real mum may have let you starve doesn't mean I'll let you," Jackie crossed her arms.

"I've never starved thank you. Or at least, not on my home planet. There were those other times when I was stranded, but that's beside the point. Besides, I thought you weren't very fond of me. You know, because I 'stole' your daughter and all."

"I'm not! But that doesn't mean you don't matter."

"Yeah, that makes a fat load of sense."

"Mum cares about you 'cause I do," Rose interjected. "She may not adore you, but she does care."

"Rose is right," Jackie nodded. "I care, really. Like I said, what would happen to Rose if you keeled over? Hm? Then what? So come on, up on your feet. We haven't got all day and I'm starving. About to run out there and eat anything I catch, I am."

"I haven't got money," the Doctor shrugged. "I couldn't pay for my meal."

"That's never stopped you before from what I can see. Besides, I was going to pay for it of course. What kind of host would I be if I made my guests pay?"

"But your things."

"We'll take them with us, we will! What, you think we'd just leave them here?"

"I still say we should try to hold onto this spot. It's a lovely spot, it is."

"And I still ask who cares? I said it before and I'll say it again, sweetheart, we'll find another. Besides, we didn't come to lollygag on the beach. Well, maybe you did, but Rose and I certainly didn't. We came for the ocean. That's the only reason anyone comes."

"Some come to tan," the Doctor mumbled.

"True, but that's not why we're here."

"But-"

"No more objections! We all are going to lunch, and you're no exception. Now get up."

The Doctor sighed a little. It wasn't often he was ordered around, and when he was, it wasn't usually by someone's mother. Still, he had never thought that it would be Jackie Tyler.

He stood, dusting off his jeans. "Fine, but if that spot's taken, and you wanted it, don't say I didn't warn you."

Rose playfully shoved his arm. "Come on now, it won't be so bad. Just enjoy yourself, yeah?"

The Doctor smiled. "Yes mom," he whispered to her, causing her to laugh.

She looked up at his handsome grinning face, thick sideburns outlining his face. His brown eyes sparkled in the sunlight. The color was brought out in them. They didn't look as dark here on the beach in the sun. She smiled broader. She hadn't realized just how brown they were.


	4. Ch 4: Salt Water

The sun was almost directly overhead when the trio left "Shamus Burgers & Chili." Rose had never been to a place, or rather, a place on Earth, that had such a bizarre menu. It was a restaurant that specialized in exotic meats and dishes. They had all kind of burgers from traditional beef and vegetable to unusual shark and ostrich, along with chili possessing ingredients just as strange and all coming with chips. Jackie hadn't been very adventurous, taking the safe route with a veggie burger. Rose had been a little more daring, trying a venison burger which actually tasted a lot like a normal beef one, save the aftertaste. The Doctor had simply had a small helping of mild bear chili, which he reported, tasted hauntingly familiar. Along with their meals, both Jackie and Rose had chilled drinks, Jackie with tea and Rose with a cola, whereas the Doctor had warm coffee, which raised a few eyebrows.

"That was great!" Rose grinned as they walked down the street.

"Certainly was different," Jackie nodded. "Didn't know you could make a patty out of seal. That was a shock to me."

"I know!" Rose laughed.

The Doctor walked along beside them, absently listening to the two females chatter away about their new favorite food place. Too bad it was so far away from the flat; otherwise, the Doctor was sure they would've become regulars.

When they reached the beach, they did have to choose a new spot, but it was actually a nicer spot than before. This new spot was closer to the water and far enough away from the toilet houses to avoid the awful stench that they emanated.

"So, Doctor," Rose finally looked over to the Doctor as they ventured across the sand to their new spot, "are you going to swim with us?"

"Me?" the Doctor replied, his white tennis shoes, which has once again been made to hold his socks, in hand. "Nah, I don't think I will. Besides, you're supposed to wait half an hour before you swim again."

"No one does that at the beach," Jackie stated.

"I do. Of course, I'd rather wait a few hours, you know? To make sure I've digested it all."

"But then it'll be time to head home," Rose noted.

"Yeah, exactly."

"Doctor! You need to swim with us."

"But I don't really like swimming."

"Oh come on then!" Jackie looked up at him from the beach towel she was waving across the sand. "You're sweating."

"What? It's hot. You two are wearing swimsuits, so I'm sure you both are just fine, but it's hot in these jeans and this t-shirt."

"All the more reason to come and swim with us!" Rose chimed back in. "The water's really cool, I'm sure you'll feel better if you got in."

"Nah, thanks for the offer, but I'd rather just…sweat."

"You won't swim?"

"Right."

"Not even," Rose got a mischievous grin on her face, "for this?" She produced the sonic screwdriver from her pocket and held it just out of reach of the Doctor.

The Doctor's eyes widened and his hand flew to his own pockets, quickly and frantically patting the outsides of his jeans. "How did you-?"

"While you were sleeping. You never even stirred."

"Oh, you're good," the Doctor's shoulders sagged.

"Well, you did pick me for a good reason, right?" Rose grinned wider.

The Doctor sighed. "Yes, because you were—are—a clever girl."

"That I am. So, you're going to swim, yeah?"

"I really don't want to Rose. I really don't like the salt water."

"Oh come now!" Jackie hit the back of his shoulder, causing him to tense noticeably. "Stop being a stick-in-the-mud. Five minutes won't hurt you."

"What is this?" he hissed. "'Abuse the Doctor Day?'"

"She right though, Doctor," Rose nodded. "Five minutes couldn't hurt."

"Rose, look, if were any other day, I-"

"Or would you rather let your sonic screwdriver swim for you," she held up his prized possession at eye level. "It's your choice."

The Doctor's eyes went from Rose's face to the screwdriver and stayed there. His tensed face was contorted with worry, as though he were someone facing a ticking bomb and trying to decide which wire to cut, the red one or the blue one.

Finally, he heaved a great sigh. "Fine, I'll swim five minutes," a stern finger pointed at Rose. "But only five minutes. After that, you let me leave."

"Fair enough," Rose smiled, slipping the sonic screwdriver back into her pocket.

The Doctor's jaw dropped. "What? Aren't I going to get it back?"

"After you swim," Rose shook her head.

"Why?"

"Where would you put it when you swim?"

"It's the principle of it."

"Well, besides that, I also know that if I gave it back, you wouldn't swim. It's the principle of it."

"But-"

"After. I promise."

The Doctor gave her a glare and a few choice words that the TARDIS mysteriously didn't translate for her (although she was sure she really didn't want to know) but he conceded.

"Oh, come now," Jackie wrapped an arm around his shoulders, "it won't be as bad as all that now. You're acting as if we were going to cut your arm off."

The Doctor grumbled a few more distasteful words under his breath.

After they had finished setting up again, Jackie and Rose removed their outer clothing, in preparation to go swimming. She shot the Doctor a warning glare when she saw him eyeing the sonic screwdriver in her pocket.

Rose looked over to the Doctor when she had pulled off her shirt, cocking her head. "Aren't you going to get ready?"

"Hm?" his head came back around from the life guard stand. "Oh, no. I'm good."

"You're not going to take off your shirt or jeans?"

"No, no. I'm good. I don't have swim trunks, for one thing, and for another, I can swim with my shirt on and I plan to. Unless that's a crime now. There was that one space colony that actually wouldn't let you leave your room without removing your shirt. They said that it was against their religion to wear shirts in public. I never really found out exactly where that ludicrous belief came from, but I digress. I'm just a little too…modest, to go shirtless."

Rose raised an eyebrow.

"What?" the Doctor challenged her.

"I just never thought I'd hear you describe yourself as modest. In fact, I never thought I would hear anything describe you as modest."

"Oi, oi! That's not nice."

"Just saying, it doesn't seem like you, you know?"

"But I am! Can you name a time that I wasn't fully clothed? If that's not modest, I don't know what is."

"Whatever," Rose laughed. "Come on!"

She grabbed his arm and dragged him to the sea as he gave one last, forlorn look back at where he knew his screwdriver was.

"Backstabber," he whispered very quietly to it, and then laughed at himself a little. It was one thing to talk to the TARDIS, something with a consciousness. It was another to talk to something he knew had no soul.

Jackie had already gotten in the water and was enjoying herself, soaking from head to toe. Rose splashed into the water towards her mother, the Doctor following. He came in until the water was level with the top of his jeans at his waist before he pulled his arm away, letting Rose go on alone. He felt the soupy sand ooze between his toes and over the tops of his feet. Cool saltwater soaked quickly through his submerged jeans, and he had to admit, the water felt pretty good.

Rose looked back to him as she came up beside her mother.

"Aren't you coming any further?" Jackie called to him.

"Nah, this is as far as I want to go," the Doctor smiled. "I'm still not a big fan of the ocean."

"No, sweetheart. That's barely swimming. That's barely wet even."

The Doctor's eyes shifted around. Rose had disappeared from her mom's side. "Quite right. But I don't really think—Ack!"

The Doctor pitched forward as Rose jumped onto his back, her weight taking him by surprise and causing him to lose his balance. He swayed a little before he tumbled to the side, plunging into the water and taking Rose with him. Rose was the first to surface, her eyes and smile wide. The Doctor burst up a moment later, gasping and surprised. His hair fell over his face, but it couldn't hide his shocked expression. However, it quickly turned to one of mirth and he began to even laugh a little. He flipped his hand to splash Rose with water, causing her to turn away and protect her face, but laughing the whole time.

The Doctor couldn't deny that it was much cooler in the water and he really did feel better drenched and soaked. That was probably the reason he spent an hour and a half in the water instead of the five minutes he had originally planned.

His body had been stinging and tingling for over an hour, but he had taken no notice. He had chalked it up to the salt in the water and left it at that, continuing to romp and play in the water, splashing Rose, and occasionally Jackie, riding waves, and participating in the age old game of dunking. However, a sudden wave of pain flooded over his body as he resurfaced from another dunking from Rose. His body was telling him that it had been in the saltine water long enough and had endured enough.

The Doctor shot out of the water as fast as the water resistance would let him, catching Rose's attention.

"Doctor, is something wrong?" Rose made to follow him. She could see the pain plainly in his face. Of course, he was also bent over a little with his arms around his body.

"Ah…uh…my stomach…it hurts…something I ate, I think," he spoke quickly and then rushed off for the bathroom sheds.

He never realized that Rose was following. She saw him duck behind the back of the sheds, rather than going inside. As soon as her feet hit the sand, she was running, rushing up the beach and around the side of the bathroom sheds where she had seen the Doctor disappear.

She rounded the corner just as the Doctor's shirt was coming up over his eyes, blocking his sight. She gasped, putting her hands over her mouth to keep from crying out in shock and startling the Doctor, her eyes jumping back to the Doctor's face as it came out of the t-shirt.

"Rose!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"What is that?" Rose pointed at his torso.

"Oh…uh, this? It's a rash."

The rash was unlike any other rash Rose had ever seen before, although that wasn't too surprising since she was dealing with the Doctor. It was thick, blotted over his skin with little tendrils jutting off here and there, looking almost like someone had splattered paint onto him, albeit not as rounded. It extended from his waist, right where his pants started, all the way up his body, barely stopping before it touched his neck, save on small arm that extended halfway up his neck. Rose realized now that arm is what he had scratched at earlier, meaning she had been right and the mark wasn't left by him. Weird shape aside, the color was the strangest element of all. Down at the bottom, near his waist, the rash was a solid, dark black. It kind of reminded Rose of the shows with frostbite victims where their fingers got too cold and died, turning black; she really hoped that wasn't what was happening here. As if he had been Photoshopped with a gradient, the rash slowly faded from black to an angry red at the top, including the tip on his neck, appearing only slightly irritated, pink skin still visible inside the obscure boundaries of the rash.

"What kind of rash is that? I've never seen one like that. What caused it?" she looked at him.

The Doctor diverted his eyes and sighed. "It's a disease."

"No, really?"

"A time disease. But don't worry!" he looked back quickly at Rose before she could say anything. "You're safe. It only affects Time Lords."

"Are you sure of that?"

"Perfectly. It was a fairly common occurrence on my home planet. Of course, back then they could cure it easy. Just like that," he snapped his fingers for emphasis. "Now…well, I'd say it's next to impossible considering I'm the last of the Time Lords, and I never knew how to make the cure in the first place."

"What's it going to do to you?"

The Doctor thought about making a joke, trying to lighten the mood. He thought about attempting to make Rose laugh, like he usually did, but not this time. The look on her face told him that she would eternally hate him if he tried such a thing on such a serious manner. His sad eyes met hers. "Kill me. Eventually, anyhow."

"How's it going to do that?!"

"It slowly drains the life force, the sort of strength from the batteries you might say. I've been getting weaker. I'm sure you've noticed. It won't be long before I'll be too weak to travel in the TARDIS."

"How long?"

"Oh…I'd guess I have one more trip in it."

"What?!"

"I was going to bring you home! Really, I was. But that's why I didn't want to come here yet. I wasn't ready."

"You should've said something."

"I tried, but you didn't listen. I told you I didn't want to come here."

"I thought you were just being difficult, as usual."

The Doctor sighed. "Yeah, well. Not this time."

There was a pause.

"How did you catch it?" Rose quietly asked. "I mean, if you're the last Time Lord and all, and you didn't have it before, how'd you catch it?"

The Doctor sucked in air through his teeth and spoke very fast, as he usually did when he didn't really want to explain something to Rose but knew he had to. "From another Time Lord, a while ago. But he's dead now. Died, real fast. Soon after I saw him actually. Or rather, if I recall correctly, he died right in front of me, but that's not the point."

Rose inched towards him a little. "When was this? How long have you been sick then?"

"Since before I met you. It was right after I regenerated into the form that met you."

"Tell me. Tell me everything."

"What? Why?"

"'Cause I need to know."

"There's nothing you can do. That's why I never told you before. What would the point be?"

"It's not so I can help you! I just need to know. Me, not for any other reason other than I just need to know, okay?"

The Doctor sighed. "Okay, fine. If you want to know that bad, I suppose I can tell you."


	5. Ch 5: Memories of a Death

The Doctor's now-blue eyes eased open. It took a second for them to readjust to the TARDIS' lighting. He slowly blinked again and yawned lazily, stretching his arms up over his head with his hands landing on his head as they came back down. His hands rubbed over his scalp, brushing his hand with his bristly hair. Short hair. Very short, actually. He sighed a little. While he really did appreciate differences in regenerations, he would've liked some more hair, some longer hair. He was going to miss that, but accepted that he would just have to live with it.

He sat up, looking around a little before his gaze dropped down to his outfit. It was a dark, black coat that covered his shoulders, partially hiding his white shirt which had a length of a silky material tied elegantly around his neck.

"These have got to go," he murmured as he patted the coat.

He stood and stretched his whole body, rubbing his head again in case he had been mistaken. He really was going to miss all that hair. Walking out of the room and up a short flight of steps, he reached his massive wardrobe. He strode around, ruffling through the sets of clothes in search of just the right outfit. It wasn't all that long before he found what he wanted. His white dress shirt and tie was replaced with a dark red, long-sleeved shirt that was cotton knit, or at least very close to it, with a V style collar. The black suit coat was not replaced. He then put a pair of black slacks, reaching all the way to his shoes. They were fairly loose and comfortable, giving him plenty of room and freedom to move around. Some sturdy, but dressy, boots were chosen to cover his feet. He has always wanted to wear these particular boots, but they had never really suited his fancy enough to do so before. The last touch was a battered leather jacket he found tucked away deep into a forgotten corner of the wardrobe. He admitted, it had seen better days. It was obviously old, with patches of brown poking out here and there, mostly at the seams, but he thought it suited him. He too had seen better days and he too was old.

He was just shrugging on the selected coat when he heard an alarm from the TARDIS ring through the air. Not one for vanity, the Doctor sprinted to the control room of his old ship and jumped for the controls of the TARDIS, completely bypassing his dressing room mirror. There would be plenty of time for that later.

"What is it girl? Are you angry I slept so long?" the Doctor chuckled a little, pulling the flat screen monitor to his. "What's this?"

He saw the pattern of a distress signal flowing over the screen, up and down in rhythmic and hectic waves. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver, pointing it at the screen and pressing the button on the side. The sonic screwdriver whirred and shone blue onto the screen, images as well as words from his home planet flitting across the screen, the Doctor's eyes flitting just as fast. However, both the pictures and his eyes stopped as he let off the button, staring in shock at the screen.

"It's…another TARDIS? But that impossible! It…it can't be! I'm the last one," he ran through the message again, a hand brushing over his head as well. "He escaped it…the war, the destruction…he escaped it," the Doctor's face was beginning to grin a little. "He escaped it because he was trapped!" He suddenly sprang to action, frantically pressing buttons and pulling levers all around the TARDIS console. "If he's still there, then I'm not the only survivor! Oh, fantastic!"

The TARDIS wheezed to life as it began to obey the Doctor's request, running off towards its set destination. However, if the Doctor had stayed at the monitor long enough to read the small remainder of the message, it's likely he never would've responded to the call.

"Help. Stuck on planet 56787, Ninac. Trapped due to illness. Hano Srycal Inek, or the Time Lord Bane. Requesting urgent medical help. Time is short. Please come soon."

* * *

The TARDIS landed in the middle of what obviously had once been a great city. Now, it just lay in ruins, bricks strewn about here and there, large metal rods poking out of destroyed stone walls. A statue in the town square still stood, though it was missing its head as well as an arm and part of a leg. Most glass windows had been blown out and shattered, their remains lying on the ground. Only a small handful of windows were intact. The sky didn't help the mood at all. It was a dark, dull grey, dead or dying, just like the city below, and the threat of rain hung heavily in the air.

The Doctor only needed one step out of the TARDIS to know that he was grateful for his thick boots. Anything less and it was likely his feet would've been ripped to shreds. With dangerous things sticking up out of nowhere, thin shoes wouldn't stand a chance in this environment. The air here was stale, and dead, only a hint of moister giving it any semblance of life. It didn't take the Doctor long to instinctively lock the TARDIS. Although he was sure this was deserted, he knew never to be sure. It was unlikely, but why take an unnecessary, and easily avoidable, chance?

His eyes roved around the desolate place. He wasn't even really sure who or what he came to look for, besides the obvious. Naturally, if he got the signal from a TARDIS, he was looking for a Time Lord, or a TARDIS, but that was the rub. He didn't even know the name of the Time Lord, so he didn't know if he even knew him, and of course, even if he did, he may or may not recognize him because of the possibility of regeneration. From the look of the town, regeneration was a definite probability. He might be able to sense a Time Lord, but he wasn't currently doing anything of the sort. And of course, if this Time Lord's TARDIS was working, it would be almost impossible to spot unless you knew it was there and what it looked like or happened to stumble upon it, and he wasn't about to go walking into everything he thought it might be.

He moved forward a little more, his hand passing over some rock and stone unconsciously. He was more intent on his surroundings than he was on his hand or the ruins he absently used as a handrail. He only jumped a little when a prick of pain shot through his arm. He looked down to find his hand, or the palm of it, was bleeding, only slightly though. It was just a nick right across the top near his fingers, nothing more. Nothing to really worry about. The bleeding would stop soon. But all the same, he pulled his hand away from the ruins, stuffing the uninjured one in his pocket for its protection. He didn't need two injured hands.

"Hello?" he called into nothingness. "Is anyone here?" he heard scuffling come from one of the nearby building. He hoped it wasn't a giant rat. He had encountered that race long ago and knew from experience that those things were mean. "I've come to help. Are you there?"

A hunched figure shuffled out of a ruined building, a different one than the Doctor remembered hearing the scuffling, but then, all the buildings were pretty connected. He wore a cloak over his body with the hood up over his head, casting dark shadows over the majority of his face. He moved cautiously, but when he saw the Doctor, his smile could be seen even through the darkness of his shroud. He rushed over to the Doctor, taking his un-pocketed hand and shaking it roughly, causing the Doctor's face to twitch briefly.

"Thank you! Oh, thank you! I had begun to think no one would come to help me, and I'm ever so weak. I thought I had been forgotten, left here to die! You were the one with the shortest straw sent out to greet me, huh? Where the rest of your crew then?" the man looked around expectantly and then shook his head. "Ah, never mind. Trivial matter, after all. What's your name?"

"I'm the Doctor."

"You're a doctor? Wonderful! Brilliant! Just what I need."

"No, I'm just-" the Doctor drew away when the man had removed his hood.

His face was almost completely covered by what looked like a horribly failed black tattoo, although it was a rash, as the Doctor knew. If that wasn't enough indication that the man was sick, his eyes would've given him away. Even though his pupils were untouched, still deep black, the rest of his eyes were solid white with only a thin line distinguishing where the color of his eyes, brown, the Doctor guessed, had once been.

"The Time Lord Bane," the Doctor hissed. "You're infected."

"Yes, that's the whole reason I got trapped here. I was infected before the war, but during, it advanced so much that I couldn't travel anymore. And of course, my TARDIS fell into ruin. It was attacked brutally. I've been transmitting my distress signal from it forever it seems. That's about all it can do anymore. But it's okay now, that doesn't matter, because you're here and you have the cure, right?"

"I'm not _a_ doctor, I'm _the_ Doctor. That's my name. And I'm afraid there's no chance of a fix for you. We're the only ones left, you and I. Gallifrey is gone, and the others went with it, and with them, your cure."

The man's eyes narrowed. "The Doctor? Not the same one that deserted us and ran away?" The Doctor's eyes darted away. "You? The deserter? That's who I'm rescued by?! The coward?! You're the one that fate allowed to survive?! How disgraceful! You didn't even fight! How dare you! How dare you be the only one to survive!"

"If you were trapped here, how do you know all that?"  
"My TARDIS still receives transmissions. I may not have been there personally, but I knew full well what was happening, and I know that you are a cowardly absconder!"

"You watch your mouth!" the Doctor shook a stern finger at the other. "I fought. I fought, just like the rest. Just like everyone else! I paid my time! And then I did what I had to. I thought I was doing the right thing."

"Well, we see how that turned out, don't we?"

"I did what I had to. I did what was needed to survive."

"You betrayed us! Betrayed your own people, your own flesh and blood!"

"I thought it was important! I thought I was doing good! Those were my intentions! The war had drug on long enough!"

"Well, it obviously wasn't good! Was it? It didn't turn out like you thought, did it? So much for your good intentions!"

The Doctor just glared.

The man drew himself closer to the Doctor so he could growl straight into the Doctor's face. "Do you know what my biggest regret is?" The Doctor snarled menacingly in response. "It's that I won't be around to see your last days. I won't be able to watch you die, but he will."

"Who will?"

"Him."

"Who is he? Who are you talking about?"

"My master. And your master."

"Shut up, you're mad. There's no one else."

"But he is still alive, and he will see your end. He will see you die."

"I'm not going to die, not any time soon."

"Oh, how naïve we are. You will die, very soon. I know this for a fact."

"Silence! You're a raving madman. You don't know what you're saying."

"I do, I know this, for you see, you've been infected as well, just like me."

"I wasn't."

"You were, the second I shook your hand."

"Simply shaking hands won't infect another."

"But you have an open wound on your hand," the man pointed to the Doctor's cut hand, causing the Doctor to look at it as well. "I didn't know that when I shook it, but how perfect it turned out."

"Why would you do that? Why would you infect me?"

The man laughed. "Well, you see, I didn't know you were a Time Lord at the time, and I also didn't see your wound. I assumed you were simply a time traveler sent by Gallifrey, or at the very least, a crew member of a TARDIS crew. I had no idea you would be infected, but how perfect is it that you were! Finally, you get your just desserts!" Still laughing, he pulled right next to the Doctor's ear so he could whisper in a harsh rasp. "I'll meet you in Hell."

Still laughing manically, he fell back onto the dirty, gritty ground. His laughs quickly transformed into coughs and then gasps for breath before he closed his eyes for the last time and fell still.

The Doctor's eyes stared at the corpse lying in front of him. His mind was blank, wiped with shock. It was a mere second longer before the flood of thoughts hit him.

He shakily started stepping backwards, but his eyes stayed firmly on the man before him, unable to look away despite his best efforts. It wasn't because it was a dead body; he had seen plenty of those. It was that the man had been a raving lunatic as well as the last survivor, other than the Doctor. He was alone, utterly and completely alone. He was the last now, the last for certain. The last of his kind had just died in front of him, and it was so quiet where he stood that he could hear the beats of his double hearts pounding in his ears. He was nearly convinced that if there had been anyone else around, they could've heard them too.

He was still backing away until his foot hit a weak rock which slipped, sending him down onto the ground and causing him to sit roughly. He didn't get up. He just sat there, breathing heavily as his mind raced and little pin-prick water drops began to fall.

He slowly brought his hands up to examine them as the rain began to fall harder. They looked normal despite being the gateway to infection, save the small cut on one. He wasn't infected, he couldn't be. He couldn't believe it. Still, as he sat there, he could've sworn he felt the beginning of a rash, an irritation, down on his back near his waist.


	6. Ch 6: Confessions of a Doctor

"I knew my days were numbered from the start," the Doctor sighed. The pair, Rose and him, had sat down on the sand right where Rose had found him, behind the toilets. Neither of them actually noticed the reeking stench, however. They were both too engrossed in the story, the Doctor in telling and Rose in listening, to really notice. It was probably a good thing. "I really didn't want to take anyone on as my…companion. I knew I wasn't long for the world, and I didn't want to endanger anyone."

"But shouldn't someone have noticed? I mean, it's not like you've been able to keep your shirt on forever. I know others have seen you since then. What about Van Statten? Or Mickey?"

"Van Statten…by that point, it hadn't crept onto my front side. See, it starts on the back by the waist, eases around front to the belly area, and then upwards," he used his hands to illustrate to Rose exactly what he meant. "He didn't really walk behind me; he stayed in front mostly. I doubt he even saw. And besides, that man was a moron. He thought he knew so much, but he didn't really. Even if he had seen it, he wouldn't have understood what it meant. As for Mickey, yeah, by that time, I had a significant rash. I know he saw it. There's no way he could've missed it. However, remember, this is Mickey we're talking about. He knows I look human, and he knows I'm an alien, but he doesn't know just how human I really look. He probably thought that rash was just part of what I was and thought nothing of it. Thank goodness it was a male idiot who changed me into my jim-jams that Christmas I spent unconscious."

Rose's eyes passed up and down the length of the rash again. "It looks painful."

"Some of it is; that's one reason I didn't want to swim, the other reason was so you wouldn't find out. The black flesh is stiff, hard. It has no feeling to it anymore. It's very old stuff. The redder it is, the tenderer, and the lighter red it is, the fresher it is."

"The black flesh isn't-"

"Dead? No. Still very much alive. Just…unresponsive. The outer edges of the cells have hardened, thus deadening the nerves a little. It's not that the nerves have died, but the area around them have been solidified, so the signal of…well, anything, can't reach them. So, it keeps them from responding to anything. Lucky for me though. Otherwise, my whole body would ache constantly."

"So, I want to go over this again. What's it do?"

"The disease? Kill me."

"I got that, thanks. I mean, specifically? Symptoms or whatnot like that."

"Drains me of my energy. Slowly. Just saps it all away. That's why I've been sleeping a lot more as of late. It won't be long before I'll be too weak to travel in the TARDIS. That's what happened to a lot of Time Lords, they caught this and were trapped somewhere because they couldn't travel. But that fact is part of the reason I didn't want to come here just yet. I was thinking that, after we visited one last place, we could come here. To stay here."

"Why? You hate this place. I know you. You'd rather be out there, doing who knows what on some star."  
His brown eyes met hers and he tried to smile, though it was a little sheepishly. "You're right. You're absolutely right, but you see…I don't want to die alone."

"Won't you just regenerate?"

"No, sadly," he sighed. "Once the disease gets to a certain stage, to a specific intensity, it stops the power to regenerate."

"How?"

"It stops the power flow. No power, no energy, no regeneration. Simple as that. I was very lucky to regenerate to this form when I did. Just a little later and I would've been unable to do so. I lost the ability soon after my regeneration. But, even if I could regenerate, it wouldn't help kick the disease; it stays in the body. It sticks around like that annoying little, pathetic creature that keeps following you around because you were nice to it once, but then it didn't take the hint and so thought you would give it more food, or even a home."

"That's awful!"

"What? It was a joke! And I wasn't talking about Mickey, honest."

"No, not that. I was saying the disease was awful."

"Oh, that. Right."

"And this was common? On your home planet? You saw it a lot, yeah?"

The Doctor breathed in a little, glancing up at the sky. "Yeah, it was. But it was also easily curable. It's kind of like," his fingers drummed on his chin, "pneumonia for you humans. It was fairly common, and deadly, obviously, if not treated, but with prompt attention, the outlook was excellent. Even though it was common, it wasn't a plague or anything. All of us knew of at least one person that had gotten it, and most had actually personally gotten it. But me, I was a lucky one. Nine hundred years. Well, strictly speaking, over nine hundred years. I went all that time without catching it. I thought I was safe." He closed his eyes and massaged his forehead lightly. "My, what a mess."

"So, when are you…?"

"I dunno. It's different for most everyone, just as pneumonia is. There's so many different factors that goes into calculations of survival expectancy that it's hard to tell for sure. However, I guesstimate that I have only one more trip in the TARDIS, as I said, though I don't know if I'll be able to take it. I don't want to jeopardize you. That would be horrible."

"You've been traveling all this time in the TARDIS. What does this disease really change? Can't be as bad as all that, yeah?"

"Rose, time travel, space travel, it's hard on a living being's body. That's a fact of nature. Most aren't made to do that. But even though it puts strain on it, it usually isn't all that harmful. A healthy person can withstand the stress easy. Sure, you will sleep harder when you finally do sleep than you would if you just stayed at home and never went TARDIS traveling. Nevertheless, it's not detrimental. It won't kill you and it won't significantly shorten the life span of anything. However, since I'm ill, it's a lot harder for me, on me. It's harder on me. I am weak and tired anyway, and time travel only makes me more so. The more I travel, the bigger opening I give the disease, and the disease gets more aggressive and progresses further, making me sick, weaker, sleepier, which gives the disease more strength which…see where this is going?"

"So, you're going to die?"

"Yeah."

"Soon?"

"Kind of."

"And there's nothing anyone can do?"

"Pretty much."

Rose looked at him in disbelief and silence for a moment before continuing. "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you let me know earlier?!"

The Doctor sighed. "When I first met you, I was actually still in denial that I was even sick, despite having the beginning of a rash appear soon after. And after I regenerated and still felt sick, that's when I accepted that I really was. But if I had told you, what good would it really have done? There's nothing you or I can do. My home planet is gone, and the recipe for the cure along with it. Had I told you, you would've just worried and fretted, making me take it easy, holding me back. You would've become fearful that every move I make might be my last, and what good would that be? I've lived long enough. If this is the end, then I'm fine with that. It's probably time anyway."

"Doctor…" she breathed, but was at a loss for words. Even though it was him who was dying, to Rose, it felt like a doctor was telling her she had cancer and was going to die.

"Rose," he started after a short silence, shrugged his shirt back on cautiously, "don't tell your mother about this. This is her holiday, her break. Don't burden her with this now. In fact, don't mention it to her at all. I mean, if you really have to tell her, tell her later. Much later, when we're back at your flat and I can barely move because I'm so exhausted. You can tell her then that I'm dying, but not now." He stood, brushing the sand off his pants as best he could. "Let's just forget about this for today. Let's make the most of the beach while we're here, hm? Let's enjoy today, and tomorrow, while your mum is away, then we'll discuss this more if you like, okay?"

Rose looked up at him and nodded a little. "Okay."

He grinned and held out his hand to her. "We should return to Jackie. Let's get back to the ocean, shall we?"

Rose smiled ever so slightly. His own grin had a way of doing that, breaking through the darkness and making her smile no matter how horrible the situation. She reached up and took the offered hand. "As long as we do discuss this."

"Not tonight."

"Tomorrow afternoon for sure. Mum'll be going to the laundry mat then. She always does."

"Tomorrow sounds good."

"Just be sure you keep that agreement. I want to discuss this further. I'm still not satisfied."

The Doctor's grin widened. "That's what I love about you, Rose Tyler." He pulled her gracefully to her feet. "Always wanting to know more."


	7. Ch 7: Night Whispers

Outside the sun was gone and the coolness of night had settled in. The moon sliver was high among the shining stars set upon a dark blanket of blue. A dog barked somewhere off in the distance, its voice muffled by the buildings around it.

The Tyler household was dark, just like the ones around it, for it was the middle of the night. Only the yellow glow of an intruding streetlight poked through the shadows into the still living room, casting soft, skewed shadows across some of the room. Rose and Jackie had their own rooms and their own beds, of course, and had retired to them. Rose had offered her bed to the sick Doctor, but he politely declined, saying that he didn't need special treatment. So, he laid on the couch instead after he had changed into a pair of pajamas that Jackie still kept around. It seemed that the infamous Howard continued to come around regularly.

Although he had shifted quite a bit during the night, the Doctor had finally found a position that his body seemed to accept, lying on his back with one arm hanging off the edge of the couch and the other on his chest, blanket loosely held in its grasp. One of his lanky legs were bent up and setting against the back of the couch while the other laid stretched out, resting on the armrest and leaving his boney foot sticking out into the air. A rather thin blanket lay haphazardly over his body and just barely covered his torso while his hair was messily strewn over the pillow beneath his head. He laid still, sleeping peaceful, though if you listened close, it was easy to hear he was faintly snoring.

His ears twitched a little as he heard the gentle padding of feet on the hard floor of the kitchen. He involuntarily tensed, a natural reaction to all his experience of people trying to kill him. His eyes eased open and instantly flicked over to the kitchen, and his body eased when he saw who was there.

"Rose?" he blinked a few times as he watched her move about in the next room.

Rose's head turned quickly towards him, her expression one of surprise.

"What are you doing up?" Rose asked.

"I woke because I heard you moving around. So, I should be asking you the same question," he shrugged and then titled his head. "What are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep," Rose sighed. She picked up her mug and came into the living room, sitting in a free chair. Her cup was held between her hands as she stared down into its liquid. "I keep thinking about…well…you know…"

"My disease?"

"Yeah."

The Doctor sat up. "Rose, there's nothing you can do, so don't worry about it. It's not worth it."

"I know, it's just…"

There was a silence between them.

"I have a question," Rose piped up, looking to the Doctor.

"Yeah?" the Doctor looked back at her.

"I thought that Time Lords would recognize each other, you know? You mentioned once that you all had, almost like a psychic connection or something. So, if that's true, then why didn't you recognize that man as a Time Lord, or him you?"

The Doctor smiled. "That's a good question, actually. Real good. It's true, we can tell one of our own apart from humans, but it's the disease, it throws everything off."

"What you mean?"

"Normally, it's easy for us to tell if someone's a Time Lord. We can usually sense them if they're nearby, or at the very least, know them when we see them. But this disease messes with…I guess the perception would be a good word. Yes, perception, of both the Time Lord infected as well as any Time Lord who looks at them. The infected can't identify another Time Lord, but neither can anyone identify him. The only way to know for sure is to listen for two hearts."

"Naturally. The hearts don't just go away if you're sick."

"Well, yeah. And if that fails, a TARDIS nearby is always a good sign. Besides, only Time Lords can catch this, so if they have it, it's a pretty good indicator."

"Does it actually do anything to the eyes?"

The Doctor looked up, his face scrunching in thought a little. "Nothing permanent. Any damage done is usually reversed as soon as they recover."

"Oh, well that's good."

Another stretch of silence ensued, both with the Doctor and Rose looking down.

"Rose, at the beach today, did you know?" the Doctor looked at her.

"Know? Know what?" Rose met his gaze.

"Well, that something was up. I mean, you kind of pushed the whole swimming thing awful hard. And you only really do that when you suspect something."

"I thought something was up when I found you sleeping for the first time."

"Yeah, I kind of thought as much. Sorry, never meant to fall asleep there, in the TARDIS console."

Rose chuckled a little. "Didn't think so."

"But that wasn't it, was it?"

"No. Then, when my mum hugged you, and you winced, not like you didn't want to be hugged but rather like it hurt, I thought that was weird. I suppose it really did, huh?"

"Yeah, it did. Had to bite my tongue a bit."

"It was after we found you asleep for the second time that I really became worried. You know, when you were sleeping on the beach. It's one thing to find you sleeping once, but twice in a matter of two days is just weird, for you I mean."

The Doctor nodded. "It is, I know. I don't usually sleep that long."

"Another thing that I found odd was the coffee."

"The coffee?"

"Yeah, you had a coffee at lunch."

"Oh, right. And that's significant how?"

"Well, it was a hot day. You even said yourself you were hot and sweaty in your clothes. And yet, you ordered a hot drink. That's a little unusual, yeah?"

"Ah. Yes, you see, my throat was-is-bothering me. Hot drinks soothe the throat you know?"

"My point exactly."

"So, the swimming was…?"

"Really, the swimming was the only thing I could think of that wasn't out of the ordinary. I thought that if it was something on your skin, the water might irritate it."

"And it did. Clever girl," the Doctor gave her a little wink.

"And I also thought that if it tired you out more, maybe something else would show up, you know? Just so I could see what it is. And it was the best way to find out but also keep mum from noticing. I didn't want to call her attention to you."

"Greatly appreciated. And I must say, that was actually a pretty good plan. And at least part of it worked, right?"

"Yeah, though I'm sorry about that."

"Ah, don't worry about it. You did what you had to, and I respect that."

There was a pause before Rose tentatively asked, "So, what now?"

Her eyes almost hesitantly met his. He sighed. "I honestly don't know. I suppose we stay here."

"What? And just wait for you to die?"

"Well, yeah. Can't risk traveling, not like this. There's nothing else to do."

"But…there must be something, anything! We can think of something I'm sure! If we put our heads together, we'll think of something, yeah?"

"Rose, really, there's nothing. This is it. The end."

"That's not fair though."

"Whether it's fair or not, that's just the way it is. My planet is gone, my people are gone, and my hope for a cure is gone. I didn't choose the name 'Doctor' because I wanted to be a doctor of medicine, as most people expect. This is how it ends."

"And you're okay with that?"

"Yeah, I guess I am."

"But, you don't mean it, do you?"

"Does it matter?"

"Please," Rose slipped off her chair and got down on her knees beside the Doctor, placing her hand over his on the couch, "tell me there's something you can do. Anything. Even if it's a long shot, please tell me."

"I would be lying to you if I did."

"Then do it."

"Why?"

"Because it can't end like this. It just can't. Not for you. You're the Doctor, my Doctor. I want you safe. I saved you from the Daleks for a reason because I didn't want to see you die. So, I know it can't end like this now. You're only nine hundred years old! You said so yourself."

The Doctor laughed. "You say that as though it's no big deal."

"But I'm serious! You're so full of life and vigor! I can't believe that you're going to die now. How could it possibly end like this?"

"Even for a Time Lord, nine hundred years is a good life time."

"Is it good enough for you though? Would you be happy? I know there's so much more you want to do, see."

"Yes, that's true, but it's a moot point now. It doesn't matter what I want. I won't get to see it, experience. This is it. The only thing I can hope fore, that I know I can have, is that I won't die alone. That's the one sure thing now."

Rose's eyes involuntarily watered a little and she hurriedly looked down at their hands on the couch, her slender hand over his.

"How's that saying go?" she asked softly.

"Pardon? Which saying? There's a bunch of them."  
"Where there's a will…"

The Doctor smiled and sighed a little. He was always astounded by her spirit. "There's a way."

"I know there's a will here."

The Doctor chuckled. "So there must be a way huh?"  
"Yeah, that's my thought anyway. Even if you don't have hope any more, I do. I think…my hope's enough, don't you?"

The Doctor nodded. "I would think so."

"So, any thoughts, any ideas? Maybe? Even a small one?"

The Doctor shook his head, putting his free hand to the side of his head. "I don't even know where to begin looking. Not even the faintest clue."

"What do we need?"

"That's the thing, I don't know. Not only would we need the materials to make it, but we'd also need to locate a copy of the formula. And, to my knowledge, no place has both. Well, I don't know of any place with the formula." He rubbed his chin a little as he thought.

"Maybe would could bring someone who knows here? Is that possible?"

"Well, yeah, it is possible. Send out a signal from the TARDIS broadcasting what we need and why, that's easy. However, that would also mean that I'm broadcasting my weakness to all my enemies, and I do have so many enemies. And eventually, the TARDIS would…" he trailed off in thought, and then his eyes widened. "I don't know where to look…but there is one thing that might. Maybe."

"What?" Rose perked.

The Doctor looked at her, his broad grin stretching ear to ear. "The TARDIS! It's a long shot, a very long shot, but its databanks might just have something. It's constantly picking up signals and things, surely if there's something out there, it would know. And, since it has a consciousness, it could, theoretically, choose a destination for us."

"Great! That's wonderful!" Rose jumped to her feet.

The Doctor's face turned serious. "Rose, you understand that this is a huge risk. I mean massive. It's quite possible we'll land nowhere need any help. And if that happens, I won't be of much use either. If you come, you might never make it back. Ever."

"And if you go alone, you definitely won't survive. Besides, even if we land somewhere without any help, that's how you would rather die anyway? In the middle of a big mess instead of lying here on the couch, yeah?"

He smiled. "Made up your mind already have you?"

"There was no question. It was made long before you came up with your idea, your long shot," she smiled back.


	8. Ch 8: Departure to the Unknown

"Why do you have to leave so soon?" Jackie whined.

"Mum, I told you, something really important came up," Rose stated calmly.

"But you just got here! Can't it wait a few more days?"

"Nope. Sorry," the Doctor interjected.

Jackie shot him a glare from her chosen squishy chair. "What could be so important? That's what I want to know."

The Doctor's eyes glanced around. "It's…complicated." He looked back at her. "Very complicated."

"We're coming back though!" Rose jumped in. "After we deal with this…thing. After, we're coming back, and we'll stay a good long time. A proper visit, yeah?"

The Doctor snorted.

Jackie looked angrily at him. "Don't be like that! You two go off all the time and leave me."

"Exactly!" the Doctor spread out his arms for emphasis. "This really isn't any different from any other time we've left you."

"Yes it is! Something feels funny. Different it does. I don't know what it is, but something doesn't sit nicely with me and I have a right to be concerned."

The Doctor and Rose quickly exchanged worried glances. The nervous sweat was almost visible on both their foreheads.

"W-well, that's because…um…" Rose's mind drew a broad blank.

"Nothing weird happened!" the Doctor finished quickly and loudly. He looked at Rose with a wide grin. "Right Rose?"

"Uh, right. Right! Usually, when we come, there's funny business going on. You said so yourself. You know that as well as we do, but nothing happened this time."

"Probably feels a little odd for us to be leaving without any aliens or monsters popping up and being spotted."

"I'm looking at the strangest one of all right now," Jackie pointedly rebuked.

"Besides me that is," the Doctor tried his best winning smile.

Jackie only rewarded his effort with a skeptical scowl. "I still say something fishy's up."

"And we promise Mum, there's nothing up," Rose shook her head, smiling. Rose laid her hand over her mom's, giving it a little squeeze. "We'll see you again soon. Promise."

Jackie sighed and pulled Rose into a hug, whispering into her ear, "Don't go doing something stupid sweetheart. Please?"

"I promise, I'll be okay."

Jackie pulled away from her daughter and looked into Rose's eyes. "Is there something wrong? I mean, really, is there something wrong?"

"Wrong? What do you mean? What could be wrong?"

"Is there something wrong with the Doctor?"

"No, and even if there was, he won't let me fall mum. You know that. He won't let me down. Aside from that, I can take care of myself. So, you really need to stop worrying so much."

"You know I can't do that sweetheart. I'm your mum, I have to worry."

Rose laughed. "I know, but still, don't, yeah?"  
Jackie sighed again. "Just call, 'kay? Promise me that you will do that much. And don't say you can't because I know you can."

"Of course I will mum. I promise I'll call."

Jackie smiled a little. "Well, off you go then, hm?" she looked to the Doctor. "Just like always?"  
"Yeah," the Doctor stood, nodded. "I suppose so. Just like always," he looked to Rose, smiling. "Right Rose?"

"Yep, I'm ready," Rose nodded, standing up beside him.

"I still say you pair are crazy, you are. But…I can't stop you, either of you, can I?"

The Doctor grinned wider, his eyes sparkling. "Notta chance."

Jackie hugged the Doctor close, putting her mouth close to his ear. "Take care of her, please? She's all I have and I don't want to lose her. She's precious to me."

The Doctor squeezed her reassuringly. "I know, and of course I'll take care of her. She's precious to me too. You have my word that I will let nothing happen to her. I will return her to you just as I always have. That much will never change."

Jackie let go and held him at arm's length, her hands on his forearms, and looked up at his face. "And you best take care of yourself as well. I don't want you going anywhere."

The Doctor smiled warmly. "I'll do what I can."

"Just as always?" a small smile played at the corners of her mouth.

The Doctor chuckled. "Just as always."

Jackie nodded and bushed his arm as though dusting it off. "Well, get going you two. You'd better scoot out of here before I change my mind."

Rose smiled. "See you later mum!"

With a final huge from Jackie, Rose followed the Doctor out the door, the Doctor giving one last wave back to the lonely mom. Jackie sat back on a chair and sighed, watching the door and hoping they would turn around, though she knew they wouldn't. And they didn't. They just continued right down the stairs.

"She didn't really want you, us, actually, to leave, did she?" the Doctor noted as they continued down the stairs.

"It's hard on her," Rose stated. "When you consider that I'm all she has left, it's easy to understand."

"Never said it wasn't."

"It's just, it's been just her and me ever since I was a baby…ever since my dad died."

"I know, but still she should expect you to leave the house."

"It's not that. She probably does, but knowing that I'm with you out in space and danger is what's hard on her. She doesn't want to lose me forever, you know?"

"Yeah," he grinned. "I can understand that. Well, I can relate too."

"Shut up," Rose laughed and gave him a light push. "Thing is, I think that it's just harder for her this time."

"Why do you say that?" the Doctor squinted and looked at the blue sky above as they walked out the door.

"She thinks something's wrong. It's almost like she can sense it."

"Hate to say it but women's intuition is usually a force to be reckoned with," he looked down at her. "You didn't tell her did you?"

"No. She still doesn't know for sure. I agree that she doesn't need to know."

"Good," the Doctor nodded. "It's better that way."

Rose sighed. He was probably right, and she knew that he was. He usually was, and she had accepted that a long time ago, but the face of her crestfallen mother still hung in her mind, even more so this time than usual. She found herself looking back at her apartment building every so often as they continued back to the TARDIS. She felt a little twinge of guilt and sorrow at the thought of leaving Jackie alone. However, all those memories and feelings dispelled as soon she stepped back into the TARDIS. She smiled as she looked around the familiar ship with its glittery gold walls and columns and its glowing green center shaft. All her worries dispelled quickly. The TARDIS was good about that.

The Doctor had gone ahead of her and had flung his trench coat into its usually pillar crook. He currently stood in front of the console, his hand gingerly resting on its controls. He closed his eyes a sighed a little before speaking very softly to the ship. He spoke in old, elegant words, ancient, powerful words. The TARDIS didn't translate, but she had a feeling that it was his will that she didn't hear. His words were for the TARDIS alone.

Rose wasn't really sure just how long the Doctor had been traveling around in his ship, or how close they had been originally, but it was very obvious now that the pair were really close now. They were almost one in the same it seemed sometimes. Even though the ship seemed to frequently disobey the Doctor and took them somewhere completely different, Rose had a feeling that, deep down, the TARDIS wasn't really disobeying at all. The TARDIS was just reading the Doctor, knowing that he would rather be in the middle of a mess and helping than sitting on the sidelines and watching. Their souls, such as it maybe, were very much intertwined.

The Doctor perked as the metal planking below squeaked. He smiled when he saw Rose coming towards him.

"You're talking to a machine," Rose noted. "In another language no less," she added, though she was smiling.

"Yeah, just, uh, telling the TARDIS something," a light blush came over him. "She's a ship, I know. But even she needs a pep talk every now and again. And I had to tell her what I wanted besides. So, are we ready to go?" he started to press buttons.

"Of course. I'm ready."

The Doctor nodded, trying to smile, but it was weak and forced. Rose's smile vanished as she watched him.

"Are you nervous?" Rose asked softly.

The Doctor looked over at her, his brown eyes showing his uncertainty. It took Rose by surprise, even scared her just a tad and caused her heart to jump up into her throat for a moment. She had seen him unsure before, and she knew she would see him uncertain in the future, but she was still uneasy with the notion every time. In her mind, right or wrong, she had made the Doctor out to be a man who was always strong and confident, on top and in charge of every thing, and if he wasn't, he took control quickly and fairly easily. For her to even accept that he was sick and dying was hard enough, and seeing him scared himself really frightened her a bit.

"Yeah, a little," he nodded, looking back to the screen in front of him. "I'm nervous about what the trip might do to me, where we'll end up…about what is going to happen to you. I'm worried what will become of me, but not half as much as I am about you."

"Why? Why aren't you worried about yourself? You should be," Rose replied.

"I've already accepted what will happen to me. But if anything happens to you that I could've prevented…well, that would be awful, the worst thing that could happen. Worst case scenario," he paused. "You once saved my life because you wanted me safe, right? You risked your life to protect mine. But…you don't seem to realize that you're my Rose, and I want you safe too."

"I know Doctor. I know you want to protect me and I know that you want me to be safe too. I understand, but I made up my mind and I won't abandon you," Rose assured him, a little smile coming on her face. "I told you that I wanted to stay with you, and I mean it."

The Doctor smiled a little, and his eyes said everything without actually him speaking. "Thank you," they said. And then he turned his full attention back to the console, flipping switches and running around it as he prepped for flight.

Rose took a step forward as she watched him, her head unconsciously titled to one side. Was the color of his eyes lighter? They had been darker, hadn't they? She admitted it could've been the lighting, but the problem was the lights were dim. They really weren't all that bright inside the TARDIS. Light enough to see, but not light enough to make his eyes seem that light of a brown. If anything, they should've looked darker.

"Doctor?" she called.

"Hold on!" he shouted back, pulling a lever and jolting the wheezing center column to life.

Rose was forced to the ground as the TARDIS took off, flying through the vortex of time and space to who knew where. She could tell that it would be a rough flight. Actually, it already was, but she wasn't really concerned with that. They had been on rougher rides before. She wanted to ask the Doctor her question, but she couldn't get the words out. She could just barely lift her head enough to see the Doctor's hands reach up and press a button here and flip a switch there. Thankfully, the flight didn't last long, and pretty soon, the center shaft began to slow and the pressure holding Rose down was lifted ever so gently until finally, it stopped all together, allowing her to move again.

She jumped to her feet and ran around the console to see how the Doctor had faired the flight. She stopped, however, a few feet away from him.

He was breathing a little heavier than before and his eyes were tired, but he still met her eyes in spite of that. However, none of that was what really stunned her. She was so focused she barely even heard him say "We're here." She was only paying attention to one thing: the Doctor's face.

A blotchy, ever so slight, pin rash had crept over his face, one whole side from his neck to his hairline at least nearly blotted completely out by it. The rash did creep across the bridge of his nose, but it barely touched the other cheek. The other side of his face had a touch of it by his jaw and ear, and a small stripe went across under his eye but was otherwise unaffected.

"What happened?" Rose asked when she found her voice again.

He gave her a small, downcast smile. "I told you Rose, time and space travel is hard on living things, especially when they're ill."


	9. Ch 9: Swamplands

Rose tentatively opened the blue TARDIS door to peek outside and see where they had landed. It took a second for her eyes to adjust, but she wasn't really comforted by what she saw.

A dirty light filtered through the dingy leaves on the tall trees, trees that reached high into the blue sky. Their long, flexible branches, however, reached down to the horizon below, yellow and browning leaves covering all the branches and falling off occasionally. The leaves swooped down and caressed the muddy, murky swamp muck below. Large, flat rocks poked out of the water every so often, though they were few and far between. A quick glance below Rose's feet revealed the TARDIS had landed on one such rock, protecting it from getting completely sucked underneath the surface. Besides the trees, tall grasses of all kinds stuck up from the murk as well and were the only signs of life other than the occasional bug whizzing about.

The Doctor stepped up behind Rose, sticking his head out beside hers. "A swamp world. Wonderful."

"Where are we?" Rose asked.

"You mean other than the obvious answer?" the Doctor looked down at her.

"Well yeah," Rose laughed.

"The planet of Surankeclock, a swamp planet through and through. Of course," he took a deep breath through his teeth and looked back to the swamp, "I thought it was just a legend and nothing more."

"What do you mean?" Rose looked up to him.

"Well, I've never been here before, obviously since I just said I thought it was a legend. But I've heard stories, lots of stories from other Time Lords back before the war. Not many stories, mind you, but some.

"What kind of stories?"

"Horror stories. Most people I knew didn't even want to venture here because of the stories others brought back."

"Horror stories? What kind? Not ghosts and stuff."

"Nah, nothing like ghosts. Ghosts are a figment of the imagination and always have an explanation other than the superstitious. The stories tell of the kind of creatures that live here, and what they eat and such."

"What do they eat?"

"Anything that won't eat them first, and even that's not a firm rule."

"How true is all that?"

The Doctor shrugged. "No idea. Some of the people who told the stories were clearly crazy, but the others…could go either way I say."

Rose looked out over the swamp again. "I wonder how many things really live here, you know? How many of those stories are accurate and all. What all lives out there? How many species are out there?"

"Not many, judging by Earth's swamp population and variety."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"You see, the Earth is kind of like…a micro community or whatever the technical term for that is."

"Okay…"

"See, the percentage of creatures and species living in any given terrain and ecosystem when compared to any other terrain or ecosystem is close to, if not exactly the same as, Earth's, though not including humans, naturally."

"Why not include humans?"

He grinned at her. "Because you humans are able to adapt to just about anything.

"Oh, okay," she smiled. "I think I follow. But one question, you said 'close to, if not exactly the same as.' Are you saying that the numbers might vary?"

"Yep. That's it."

"Why would they differ at all? I would think they'd be in agreement."

The Doctor shrugged. "The usual reasons, really. The numbers depend on the source and all. And also, you have to think about whether it is an exact figure or a ballpark estimate. Hey! That's what we should do!" his eyes lit up as he looked excitedly down to Rose. "Go to a ballpark! And I'm not talking an Earth ball park; I'm talking a real ball park. Really! There are these planets out in the Exicarly belt where people take their 'pet balls,' like tennis balls, basketballs, baseballs, snoozle balls and such to these parks specially designed for the sole purpose of entertaining these inanimate objects."

"Doctor."

"These people actually take their balls for walks and such in the parks and let their balls play with other balls as a form of exercise so their balls won't get fat. Kind of like a dog park, no, exactly like a dog park, only it's for non-living objects. It's crazy!"

"Uh, Doctor."

"Of course, if you ask my opinion on the matter, it's just the whole 'pet rock' concept all over again, albeit it with more of a variety of 'pure bred' balls. I mean really! Some people even swear that their balls have souls and minds! They say their ball comes when called and knows its name! Bizarrer still, some people even take their balls to daycare. Daycare! For a ball! Can you even imagine it?"

"Doctor."

"That is one job I would hate to have, let me tell you. Watching those silly balls day after day. They don't even do any tricks, I know; I've been there. I'll tell you what, those owners are crazier than most human pet owners, and I've seen some crazy ones. Naturally, I don't even want a pet, really, but I suppose that—"

"Doctor!"

"Oh, sorry," he coughed into his fist. "But, uh, like I said, it should be about the same as Earth, percentage-wise. Even so, I would be extremely careful all the same. Creatures that can survive in an environment like this are dangerous. They have to be or they would never make it."

Rose nodded and edged out of the door, easing onto the rock as though she thought it would break. It was sturdy, more than sturdy, but she didn't really even want to leave the safety of the TARDIS. The Doctor followed her out, cramming his hands into his trench coat's pockets.

"Boy, it's hot," Rose noted, looking around again and seeing nothing more than the same, swampy landscape. To her surprise, the sunlight was still very strong despite the trees and their dingy cover.

"It's midday," the Doctor replied. "Or thereabout. If the stories are correct, then the temperature should actually get higher before nightfall. Much hotter."

"How much?"  
"Dunno, just much higher is all I can say. It's not like anyone stayed long enough to take readings and whatnot."

"But why? It's midday, yeah? Wouldn't the temperature be at its peak?"

"Even on Earth, midday does not signify peak of temperature, just that it's the middle of the day. But as for the temperature, it has at least another twelve hours to rise, give or take a few. Earth hours, naturally."

"What? Twelve hours? Just how long do the days last?" she paused and her face fell. "Wait a minute…don't tell me…"

The Doctor nodded. "Twenty-four earth hours total. One Earth rotation cycle."

"But then…how long is the night? Not the same, is it?"

"Yes, it's exactly the same. Twenty-four hours. This planet's cycles are forty-eight hours total. That's one thing that makes this planet so brutal. The temperature rises steadily throughout the daylight hours, meaning it rises through roughly twenty to twenty-two hours a day. It can get unbearably hot, so I've heard. Forget seasons, this planet goes through all four in a forty-eight hour time span."

"What about the night? What's it like?"

"Just as brutal, really. At night, the temperatures plummets. Below freezing. Well below freezing, so the tales go. While I don't look forward to night time, this heat is what really has me worried more than anything."

Rose looked up at him. "Are you going to be okay? Are you going to survive that?" she looked back to the swamp.

"I don't know," the Doctor breathed. "I hope, but I really don't know."

There was a pause before Rose spoke again. "Maybe we should stay here, in the TARDIS."

"Nah, what go would that do?"

"At least we know we're safe here."

"True, but I reckon that if there is someone here who can help me and make the cure, staying put in the TARDIS won't help at all," he looked to her and smiled weakly. "I doubt anyone out here would have advanced enough equipment to detect the TARDIS."

"You don't need advanced equipment to see it with your eyes."

"But I don't think many people would be coming out this far anyway."

"No, probably not. You're right."

"Somehow, I don't think they'll come to us," he nodded. "We have to go to them. Unfortunately."

"But we don't even know where to go, where to start."

"That is the danger, yes."

There was another silence, and once again, Rose broke it. "You look hot."

The Doctor grinned a little mischievously. "Why thank you."

"No," Rose laughed. "I didn't mean like that. I mean, you're sweating already. Like you were on the beach."

"Fever. I've actually been running one for a while now."

"And you're just now saying something?"

"Again, what good would it have done if I had said anything earlier?"

"How bad is it?" Rose reached a hand up instinctively towards the Doctor's forehead, but stopped halfway up before pulling it back.

The Doctor gave a little, lopsided smile and lowered his head towards Rose as if saying that she could touch. Rose gingerly put her hand out again and rested it on the Doctor's damp brow. He kept his smile, though his eyes showed his sadness as she pulled her hand back. His forehead felt much hotter than she expected it to be, even with a fever. Even for an ill human, it seemed much to hot, though she admitted she was no expert on the matter having only been sick a few times in her life and having only had to take care of her mom once or twice.

"How…" she trailed off.

"I'd guess I'm around ten, maybe eleven degrees higher than normal," the Doctor stated quietly.

"And that's…?"

The Doctor took a breath. "Bad. Not horribly bad. Well, not as bad as it would be for you; a human brain would be fried by now, as I'm sure you know. But, even for me, ten degrees higher than normal is bad."

"How much more can you take?"

"I've got a lot of lead way."

"How much?"

"Don't you worry about that," he put an arm around her shoulder. "It doesn't matter. It's none of your concern. Besides, I'm not worried about it yet, so you shouldn't be either."

A small smile came onto Rose's face. "Don't lie! You're worried too, same as me."

The Doctor chuckled and briefly glanced at his shoes before meeting her eyes again. "Yes, I'm worried. But not about the fever. I'm worried about the disease in general. Never mind the specifics. So," he gather the ends of his tan trench coat and stuck them in its own pockets making him look like he had some sort of huge, wrapped diaper on his butt. He looked back to Rose and smiled. "Shall we go?"

"You look ridiculous!" Rose laughed.

"So?"

"You're really going to wear that?"

"Yep. Why?"

"Won't you be hot? I mean, I'm dying and I'm only wearing a t-shirt."

"Keeping it for nighttime. I have this funny little feeling that I might be needing it," he playfully shrugged. "You know, just a hunch."

"And you did that because…?" she pointed at the bulging pockets stuffed with the coat tails.

"To keep it clean of course! I do so love this coat, I don't want to be dragging it in the mud."

"But it looks completely daft!"

"Not like anyone but you or I will see it. Better to have a clean coat than a dirty one. Don't wanna have to clean it and I certainly don't want to have to throw it out."

Rose chuckled. "You and your silly coats."

The Doctor laughed. "I do seem to have a bit of a fetish, hm?"

Rose laughed harder. "Yeah, just a little bit. First the leather coat, and now that one. What's next?"

"What indeed," the Doctor chuckled. And then he started as though he just thought of something. "Be back in a sec. Don't go anywhere!"

"Where are you going?"

The Doctor didn't reply. He had already turned back to the TARDIS and disappeared inside. She heard him rummaging around the ship, muttering to himself now and again before he returned to Rose's side, stuffing something inside one of his inner pockets and handing Rose a rather heavy coat.

"Have you gone mad?" Rose looked back up at him. "It's scorching out here."

"You don't have to wear it now, but you'll need this later."

"Yeah right."

"Trust me."

"I do but I don't want that."

"Remember what I said about night?"

"Still just based on stories."

"Even so, better to be safe than sorry. Just carry it."

The two looked back to the swamp, this time neither of them saying a word for a while. They just stood there, looking out to the low horizon. The scene was quiet. Nothing made a sound until the Doctor turned around and locked the TARDIS door. Rose had never been so sad and reluctant to hear that sound, the sound of their safe haven closing. This was it; there was no turning back.

"You go first," Rose told the Doctor finally, her voice much quieter and scared than before.

"Ladies first," the Doctor responded, but his vigor was also more subdued.

"Since when was that the way you did things?"

"Since we landed here, in a swamp," a smile crept cautiously back on the Doctor's face.

Rose snickered a little, pushing lightheartedly on his arm. "How about we both go together, yeah?"

The Doctor nodded slowly. "Sounds good to me."

He offered his hand at his side, the hand nearest Rose. She looked at it and for a moment, she flashed back to the Christmas she first met this new Doctor. That hand, the one he was offering her now, was the one that grew back after he had gotten it cut off fighting the Sycorax. It had freaked her out at first, but she had since become accustom to the idea. She remembered what he had said about it being a fighting hand, and it seemed to calm her mind a bit. He was a fighter, just like that hand. She gratefully closed her own hand around his. However, she couldn't help but giggle again as she looked at his bunched trench coat once more. He said nothing as she did so. He just smiled.

"Ready?" he asked.

"As I'll ever be," she nodded.

Both took steadying breaths, almost in sequence, and then, their first steps into the muck.


	10. Ch 10: Salek and Poce

The Doctor had been right, though that didn't really surprise Rose any more. The temperature continued to climb and even after being there just a matter of hours, they could both feel the difference. And it continued to climb higher and higher. Unbearable seemed right to Rose. However, even as she found herself sweating profusely, she wondered and worried about how the Doctor was making it through. Every time she looked at him, she could see that, while he put on a brave front, he wasn't actually fairing much better. Actually, it appeared to Rose that he was doing significantly worse. Sweat poured from him and his eyes showed his exhaustion, though his body posture tried to say otherwise. Rose knew that if she was having a hard time of it, and she was well, then the Doctor, who was sick, had it worse. Although, if the heat alone wasn't bad enough, the swamp itself added to their misery.

The mud looked much more watery from the rock. Just looking at the surface gave the illusion that it was mostly water and, while it wouldn't be pleasant, wouldn't be a problem. However, once they were in it, the pair found that even though there was a good amount of water in it, there was also a lot of mud. They stood about ankle deep in thick, gooey mud that tried to suck their shoes off. At their shins was more watery mud, but they still had to struggle to get through it as well. Above that, reaching their knees, was the anticipated water.

They trudged on, the Doctor not stopping, not even after his feet drug further and longer and he struggled to stay standing. Rose followed, watching him like a hawk. She wanted to speak to him, but they hadn't said a word to each other since they left the TARDIS.

"Doctor!" Rose called, breaking the self-imposed silence. "Maybe we should take a break and rest."

The Doctor, who was just a step or two in front of her, stopped. Rose came up beside him as he contemplated the proposition, his eyes still looking out over the swamp.

"Look, there's a rock nearby. We could rest there a spell. Not for long, just long enough for the both of us to catch our breath," she looked up at him. "Sounds good, yeah? What do you say?"

The Doctor's mind whizzed. Although he wanted to continue on, to press forward, he had to admit that he really did need a break. He was exhausted; they had been pushing forwards through the muck and mud underneath the sweltering sun for hours without stop despite they fact that they had no idea where they were going. Still, if he died right now, it would be for nothing.

Rose looked worriedly up at him as she waited for his reply, watching his shoulders heave up and down with each breath and his eyes flick around the horizon as he thought. A second later, he nodded, muttering his consent. Rose let out a sigh, releasing her tension.

"Okay," he said a little louder, looking down to Rose. "Let's rest, just for a bit though. We can't stay put forever."

Rose nodded a little, getting a nod and a small smile from the Doctor. They wadded over to the rock and clamored up onto it, the Doctor slipping a little on the slanted surface; His converse shoes didn't really afford much traction, and it really didn't help they were covered in slimy mud.

They sat there, just sitting for a moment, taking a moment to just rest.

"Doctor?" Rose scooted closer to him.

"Hm?" the Doctor looked over to her.

"How are you holding up?"

He pushed a damp strand of hair out of his eye. "As well as can be expected."

"That well, huh?"

The Doctor smiled tiredly. "Yeah. That well."

Rose cocked her head a little. "Is it just me, or is the color of your eyes lighter?"

"How do you mean?"

"Your eyes, they don't look the same as they did. They look…lighter. Like...they aren't quite as dark as they used to be. That's the way it seems to me anyhow."

"I don't follow."

"The brown, it looks lighter," she paused. "No, it's definitely lighter. Definitely. And don't tell me," she spoke louder as he opened his mouth to speak, "that it's the lighting. I know better. If it were, your eyes would look darker, not lighter."

"Oh, I guess it's started to show then. I was hoping you wouldn't notice but," he sighed, "who am I kidding? You always were sharp."

"What's started to show? What do you mean? What in the world is making your eyes lighter?"

"The disease. It's just yet another sign. As the disease progresses, the iris, that's the colored part of the eye, lightens in color until it's almost white. Well, until it is white actually. It's less noticeable until much later in light-eyed people, but for someone like me, it's very noticeable early on in that stage. Guess I'm right on schedule, sadly."

"That sounds awful, and kind of painful."

"It's not even half as bad as it sounds. I don't feel anything. It doesn't hurt at all. Unless I look in a mirror, I don't even know it's happening actually. It's more cosmetic than anything. It doesn't even mess with my vision. Well, other than perception."

"You mentioned something like that earlier. You mentioned that Time Lords couldn't identify other Time Lords and such."

"Yes, well, it goes a little deeper than that. As my eyes get whiter, my perception…uh…protection lessens. I suppose that's a good way to put it."

"I'm lost."

"Oh, well…uh, like I said, I cannot tell another Time Lord from a human or any other humanoid species. Also, I can be tricked by things like psychic paper, filters and other such things will fool me, things like that. Nothing as serious as completely losing my vision, thank goodness. Better to lose perception than all sight."

"I suppose so…"

Rose looked up at she heard an ear-piercing squawk coming from over head. She spotted a brightly colored bird flying almost directly over their heads, squawking and carrying on as though there was no tomorrow, which Rose thought, just for a morbid moment, that there might not be. The Doctor's eyes followed her, looking to the odd bird as well, albeit with more curiosity and excitement than Rose.

"What was that?" Rose asked him after it had gone, looking to the Doctor.

"A salek," his eyes still looked where the bird had disappeared. "Swamp dwelling bird, obviously. Native to this planet here, though you can find it other places due to travelers capturing them here and then breeding them outside this planet. Poachers…anyway, they tend to be seen in the main heat of the day."

"Why? Doesn't the heat bother them?"

"No, the heat doesn't really affect them because their feathers have a reflective property that not only repels water, allowing them to get into the water and cool off without getting dirty, but also repels sunlight, keeping them fairly cool even without water. As for why, well, it's thought that it actually wants to be seen."

"Certainly no problem with that."

"Yeah, and with the reflective properties of its feathers, it really catches the light. A bit of a showoff, they are. That's my opinion of course. I've also heard they are just distractions."

"Distractions? What for?"

"Well, usually for…" he trailed off as his eyes widened when he felt the shaking beneath them, "…that…"

His eyes were over Rose's shoulder, and she had to twist around and look up to see what he was staring at.

In the distance, a large creature, easily the size of an elephant, moved slowly along. It was thick and even at a far its skin looked slimy and slick while its hide also looked as though it was made out of dark leather. A hefty, long neck stretched high among the trees, touching the bottom of the canopy and four, wide legs supported it from underneath, though its bulky feet disappeared into the swamp below. Long fangs hung from the roof of its mouth with a head that looked like something straight out of a child's dinosaur book. It had no tail, as Rose would've expected, but it got along just fine without it, ambling along and moving faster than would've been expected from something its size, although comparatively, it was still rather slow as it lumbered along through the mud.

"Get down!" the Doctor hissed to Rose. "Put your hands on the rock in front of you!" He demonstrated.

"Why?"

"Don't ask questions now! Just do it! Hurry! Before it sees you!"

"But why? Why would it matter?" she asked, though she did as he had instructed and demonstrated. She felt like she was back on the playground in grade school, playing the family dog or whatever four-legged creature they had come up with. However, this game was much more sinister.

"Because that's a poce."

"That's a weird name."

"A weird name for a weird creature. Quite fitting. But a poce is normally a very docile creature except if it sees anything walking on two legs, even another poce."

"What? Does it become aggressive?"

"Enraged more like. It starts to chase after and attack the offending being and won't stop until it's sure you're dead. And unlike some creatures, you can't fake out a poce. It's spurred on by sight and movement; it's supposedly deaf and its sight isn't great, so it can't easily see anything unless it's moving or brightly contrasting with its surroundings. And I hate to say it, but red and blue don't exactly fit in here. Despite this, its sense of smell is wonderful and that's how it knows if you're dead. It can smell the decay before it's even really started."

"But, why? Why does it hate bipeds like that? I would think it wouldn't even matter."

"No idea. No one really knows. No one's tested any theories."

"For good reason."

"Yeah, but if you can at least appear to walk on all fours, as we do now, before it sees you, you should be okay."

Rose held her breath as the poce got closer. It passed so close to them that she could smell the sweat on its leathery skin. It made her want to gag as it reeked worse than the muddy swamp itself. Even as it passed right by them, jarring both sets of teeth, it never looked down to them. It just kept its large, stupid milky eyes pointing straight ahead.

"Probably going to feed," the Doctor muttered when it had left.

"How come we haven't seen more creatures like that? Well, more creatures at all, really? I mean, I know it's a swamp and all, but I would've expected to see a few more beings."

"The answer is simple. Actually, there are creatures all around all the time, but few creatures are adapted for the heat. All of them are adapted for a specific temperature range, and here, that translates into certain times during the planet's rotation. Most creatures avoid the major heat with the few exceptions of things like saleks and poce. They aren't really bothered by it, though I am a bit surprised by the poce. I would've thought it would've been very susceptible to heat. However, I can almost completely assure you that we will see more creatures as the night comes. Right around nightfall, that's when the creatures start really coming out."

"Is that a good thing? Something to look forward to?"

The Doctor took a deep breath. "Depends."

"What do you mean by that?" Rose raised an eyebrow.

"Depends on what comes out, and whether the stories I've heard are true. And so far, they have been."


	11. Ch 11: Dark Night

The Doctor had been right, as was expected really. As the day grew on and night drew closer, more and more creatures began to poke out of their day time hiding holes and emerge out into the open. Creatures resembling a whole assortment of creatures Rose was familiar with popped out all over. A few resembling deer poked their heads out, munching on the tall grasses that thrived in the swamps until Rose and the Doctor got too close, causing them to scamper off. Just like real deer, Rose thought. Odd-looking alligators with spines on their heads oozed through the swamp, ignoring Rose and the Doctor completely, while long, flashy golden salamanders swished along beside the large reptiles and danced around the travelers' legs. Giraffes with spines down the lengths of their backs and hardened, almost bark-textured skin covering their spindly legs majestically sloshed past, nibbling on the trees' leaves as they moved, paying no mind to the duo. All manner of birds, colored all sorts of different ways and in all kind of bizarre patterns, breezed overhead, chattering and chirping to each other in flight. It was quite a sight to behold, a swamp that earlier that day had shown no signs of life now bursting with it. Rose looked on, enthralled and amazed despite the Doctor's constant warnings about the creatures. Of course, he also conceded that he was just going by stories and hearsay. However, he had a point when he said that none of them had been wrong yet.

While the wildlife around them was thriving, the Doctor was not doing as well. He tried to keep up a strong appearance, but Rose could see easily that he was hurting. His face was constantly sweating even more so than before, even as the temperature dropped and his eyes betrayed how exhausted he really was. Thankfully, the sonic screwdriver could easily separate and clean the water, allowing the pair to drink during their trek; the Doctor teased Rose about how she had found his collapsible cup with a filter purchase several planets back a waste of money. Still, it only helped to restore their strength so much. They had only eaten very little because they weren't really sure what was safe and what wasn't, and they didn't feel like experimenting very much. They did come across a plant that looked stunningly like lettuce, though it tasted like honey instead, as well as a few other fruit specimens. The Doctor had even had the seemingly brilliant idea of wrapping the lettuce plant around some of the other fruit, though his stomach protested loudly and quickly rejected his meal. His only saving grace was that the plant was actually readily available, after they had figured out it was safe. And it gave Rose a quick chuckle.

Dusk was falling rapidly as the Doctor and Rose sat on another, more bumpy rock munching some more fruit. It was a rather new variety they had just gathered the gumption to try. It looked like it was made out of raw steak and tasted like meat, but thankfully not raw meat. It was, however, covered in a thick, spiny shell making it hard to get to. Still, the pair found the payoff very much worth it. It also seemed to have similar nutritional properties as meat, on an average scale, the Doctor noted. Even though Rose had her doubts about it at first glance, the Doctor insisted that they both eat some each twenty-four hours. He told her that not only would it help them with their energy level, but it would also ward off the runs, or some equivalent, something he definitely didn't want to deal with out in a swamp.

"This really isn't so bad," Rose admitted, taking another bite into her red fruit. "I thought it would be…more raw. You know, I was really expecting it to taste like raw meat." She shuddered.

"No. Just because it looks like raw meat doesn't mean it will taste like it, unless you like raw meat," the Doctor shook his head and took a bite of his. "The meah fruit tastes like whatever meat you like best, whether you realize it or not. It tricks your tongue, conforming to whatever will fit it best. And I must say, it's marvelous. I haven't tasted this in…years. Many, many years."

"Another one of those freaky alien things, yeah?" Rose smiled at him.

The Doctor chuckled. "Yep. One of those freaky alien things."  
Rose looked back out to the close horizon. The sun was falling fairly quickly, casting long, dark shadows over everything in sight. The leaves lit up, translucent, shining blue and silver in the setting sunlight. Over the horizon, out into what little sky they could see from under the cover of the trees, a small dash of pink, and a little splatter of purple contrasted with all manner of blues that ranged from light, almost white, to dark royal and navy blues stretching as far as the eye could see. A sky which had been yellow and dirty looking now looked clean and clear with the blue dominating it.

"It's gorgeous," Rose breathed. She looked back at the Doctor. "I have a question though."

"Yeah?" the Doctor's teeth sunk into his meah.

"Why is it blue? The sky, why is the sunset blue? I mean, I'm not trying to knock it or nothing, but I was just wondering because it's red and orange on Earth, so why is it blue here?"

The Doctor looked up, his mouth holding his fruit. He completed his bite through and chewed slowly as he explained. "It's just a blue sunset. On Earth, you have red sunsets caused by the setting sun hitting the atmosphere at just the right angle and hitting all the impurities at just the right angle, setting them a light and, consequently, creating Earth's red dominated sunsets. Well, here, it's the same concept, but blue."

"Why is it so different? Why wouldn't it be red here too?"

The Doctor nonchalantly shrugged. "It's a simple cause of different elements making up the ozone."

"And we can still breathe?"

"Well, the chemicals in the atmosphere can be the same while the ozone is different."

"Well, it hardly matters. It's beautiful."

An amused expression eased onto the Doctor's face as he watched Rose look out to the sunset again. Rose couldn't help but smile at the pure and elegant beauty of something as simple as a foreign setting sun. Her eyes sparkled as little orbs of bright blue light began to float through the air and around them as though they were studying the newcomers. As one passed in front of Rose's nose, she got a good look at one. It looked very much like a firefly, although its whole body lit up with its blue light rather than just its rear.

"They're beautiful," Rose breathed, reaching her finger out to attempt to touch one.

"Don't touch," the Doctor warned. Rose pulled her finger away, her eyes staying on the bug. "They're called lightning bugs for a reason. Although on Earth, fireflies are also called lightning bugs in various parts, these guys actually earn their name. They do give you a small jolt should you touch one. It's a literal meaning for them."

Rose looked over at him just as a lightning bug passed by his face, illuminating one side of his dark, shadow shrouded face in a soft, pale blue light, casting dark contrasting shadows over the other side. The side that the lightning bug happened to light was the one almost completely covered in his red rash, and the blue lit up the rash like a neon sign, broadcasting a message that Rose already knew and didn't need to see again. The Doctor smiled a little at her and the bug passed, covering his face with darkness again like someone had blown out the only candle in a dark room.

"Let's rest here for a while. No, better yet, let's get some sleep while we're here. The lightning bugs will go dormant soon and it will be too dark to travel for a few hours," the Doctor stated. "It's a perfect time to catch some Z's. After that lull, night time creatures should be coming out. They should make it easier for us to continue traveling."

Rose nodded absently, looking back to the horizon and sunset. The Doctor just smiled and laid on his side, stretching out his body as far as the rock would allow, his back facing Rose. He was asleep almost as soon as he closed his eyes, a quiet snoring soon coming from him. Rose watched the sunset a while longer until she too felt her eyelids drooping. She then relented and stretched out beside the Doctor, facing the opposite way as him, and eased to sleep after finding just the right position.

Although neither of them were awake to see, the Doctor had once again been right in his predictions. The darkness had become so thick and pressing that travel would have been impossible, especially when it was impossible to see a hand a few inches in front of your face. The black was absolute, broken with nothing. It broke for nothing, but that only helped the traveling pair sleep sounder.

It was several hours later when the first hint of the Doctor's promised light floated through the air, though it was hardly more than a wisp, a simple breath drifting along. Red in color, it barely lit anything as it moved through the trees. To anyone looking at it, it seemed nothing more than a faint cloud passing in the night. However, as it approached the Doctor and Rose, it paused, hovering in the air just a little ways away from the pair. For a moment, it just stayed there, billowing and wafting. Then, it moved again, this time toward them with greater speed than it had shown before.

It approached Rose first, sweeping around her gently without creating any wind or even messing her hair a little. It roved around her slowly as though it were studying her; it then ventured a small tendril stretched from the cloud and touched her forehead experimentally. It recoiled quickly, however, as though it had been burned or bitten and hastily pushed itself away from Rose. It then eased over to the Doctor, pulsing quickly as though it were excited although it could give no indication otherwise.

It took one quick sweep around the Doctor before halting over the unsuspecting, sleeping man who had shifted during his sleep and was now lying on his back, his mouth open and his snoring just a little louder than it was before. The cloud was pushed gently up as it passed over the Doctor's mouth. It scrambled out of the way of that, settling right over the Doctor's chest. Three tiny hands, each with pointed fingers, grew out of the red mist. All the fingers flexed a little, getting ready to go to work, and the creature pulsed eagerly again.

One hand was placed on the Doctor's forehead, its ghostly fingertips disappearing as they reached inside his skull. The other two hands plunged into opposite sides of his chest, the hands disappearing up to the wrists and the spindly fingers closing around each of his two hearts.

The Doctor's breath instantly shortened, causing him to gasp and wheeze for air as his chest stung and tightened. His head began to split with a searing pain that put any headache he had ever had before to shame. His body tensed and weakly tried to shake the intruder off, but was very unsuccessful. He couldn't wake, even if he had wanted to; the hand in his head made sure of that. He tried to cry out, but he was unable to muster enough air and strength, so it caught in his throat and choked. It didn't last forever, but it sure felt like it did. Minutes passed and still, the mist continued to press in on the Doctor. The mist pulsed a little, this time with an angry glow, and its hand that rested on the Doctor's forehead pushed in further the whole hand disappearing up to its wrist like the pair in his chest. The Doctor tensed even further and finally managed to squeeze out a yell, jolting Rose awake.

While Rose tried to get her bearings, the ghost quickly retracted its hands and sped off back into the forest before Rose could even turn around and glimpse it, glowing a fearsome hue as it went.

His chest finally released, the Doctor gasped in a huge breath and then quietly whimpered and groaned in agony as he rolled onto his side.

"Doctor!" Rose called to him when she saw his state, her hands on his shoulders in an attempt at reassurance. "Doctor! What's wrong? Doctor!" she shook him a little. "Wake up!"

The Doctor's eyes opened with a start, darting around quickly as he scrambled into a sitting position. A white-blue light put off by either the trees or something on it had come out and now surrounded them, allowing Rose to see the Doctor's pale face and his wide eyes. Sweat glistened on his forehead, the blue tint only helping to accent it, while his rash seemed even more pronounced than it had been mere hours before.

"Doctor? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost or something."

"I wish," he whispered hoarsely. "Then I would know it wasn't real. I would know that it was just a delirious illusion induced by my fever. But no," he chuckled mirthlessly. "That would make things too simple."

"What do you mean?"

"I saw them, the faces of my people."

"Where?"

"In a dream. Rose, I don't dream often at all, and when I do, it's certainly not about things like that. Ever. In fact, I don't think I've ever heard of Time Lords dreaming of such things. Yet, I saw them."

"But it could've been cause by your fever, yeah? Human or not, I would think it would make any thing become delirious after a while."

"It's not high enough to cause hallucinations and nightmares just yet. And I would probably have to be awake to see something like that. Besides, if it had just been the fever, my head wouldn't be throbbing and…" he put a hand to his chest, looking down at it for a beat before looking back up at Rose, "my chest wouldn't be aching."

Rose inched a little closer, still giving him his space. "Which heart?"

"Both."

"Couldn't that just be your illness?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Doesn't cause chest pains. At least, not this early in the game. Besides, it would probably only be one heart, not both, hurting if it were the illness."

"You said that each case varied. Couldn't this just be a variation?"

"Well, yes, I said that each case did, like human sicknesses, but also like human sicknesses, there are very specific symptoms and those usually show up in a certain sequence. And unlike some, this disease is very precise. The symptoms always appear in the same order. Always. I've never heard of an exception. Not one," his eyes swung slowly around the woods. "This was something else. Something dangerous." He paused, and then said lower, "There's something sinister in these woods."

"Well, yeah. Think of all the creatures. I'm sure one of them is."

"No, I mean other than them. Something unusual, something foreign, something different, and something very, very…evil," he paused, sighed, and looked back to Rose. "Well, shall we get going?"

"Traveling now? In the middle of the night?"

"Yeah, now," the Doctor smiled encouragingly. "I know that I for one won't be able to sleep for a while. One, I'm aching, and for another, I'm wide awake and wired. I'm ready to go. What's more, the forest is lighting up and we can see where we're going. We couldn't have slept the whole night anyway. Twenty-four hours? Even if humans like to sleep a lot, that's way too much."

Rose looked around. Every tree was lighting up in bizarre, patchy patterns. Some flowers were even lit, but whether that was a creature on the flower or the actual flower petals themselves, it was hard to say. Surprisingly, Rose found she could actually see the forest clearly, very clearly. It was actually easy to see where everything was now, and the blue glow was also relaxing and lazy. She then looked back to the Doctor. "What about you though?"

"What about me?"

"Are you really feeling well enough to travel?"

"The pain's easing off now. I don't think it was anything real serious. Nothing to worry about at any rate," he stood up, gathering his coat tails from the ground and stuffing them back into his pockets. "Come on," he offered her his hand.

Rose took it and stood beside him, smiling a little. "You sure?"

The Doctor smiled back. "Course. No little bit of pain can keep me down. I'm tough as nails, don't you know?"

Rose raised her eyebrows. "Really? What about Christmas then? Hm? Sycorax ring any bells?"

"That was different," the Doctor fake pouted. "That was no little bit of pain. That was a great, big, huge, massive, gianormous, heaping helping of pain. Enough to keep even the toughest of nails down."

Rose laughed. "Whatever."

The two stepped off the rock and into the swamp again, plunging once again into the knee-deep muck. As they traveled along, Rose marveled at how completely different the forest looked now as opposed to the day time. The savage forest seemed almost tame at night when only part of it could be seen and what was seen was bathed in a calming blue light. The water's filth was hidden from sight and the staggering and sharp shapes of the trees were masked in soft shadows. To Rose, she would even dare to say it felt a little bit magical.

"What are those?" Rose asked as she peered closely at a nearby tree.

On the tree, or rather every tree, several large, glowing lizards covered the trunk. The lizards were huge geckos, their large illuminated eyes on either side of their head looking right at you. Their backs had two spots that covered the whole of it and gave off light. With all of the lizards together, they created most all the light throughout the forest. Even though details were hard to see, their bulky bodies looked plump and rough while their tails seemed fat, almost matching the shape of their heads.

"Salei sumea grea," the Doctor replied effortlessly.

"Sounds beautiful. What's it mean?"

"Lighted farting gecko."

"Oh," Rose leaned away from the lizards. "Not so beautiful then."

The Doctor chuckled. "That's a good idea. You never want to touch one."

"I'm guessing it as something to do with the 'farting' part of their name then."

"Yes," the Doctor nodded, smiling. "They let out a foul-smelling gas when they feel threatened."

"And they feel threatened when you touch them."  
"Yep. Only in the face of danger do they fart. Well, that…or in their attempt to find a mate. Apparently, they find the stench very romantic."

"Eww…"

"Don't worry," the Doctor laughed again. "It's not mating season. Won't be for a number of months."

Rose laughed a little and nodded. "That's good. I don't know about you, but I don't want to deal with that really."

The Doctor crumpled his nose. "Yeah, neither do I. Mating farting geckos isn't really a pleasant thing. Well, mating anything really. Not pleasant to watch."

Rose laughed again, giving him and light shove. He just smiled down at her. He loved to see her smile.

"Shall we?" he imitated a pompous man, offering her his arm.

"Oh yes," Rose played along, taking a false snobbish tone. She took his arm and looked up at him, but they both broke out into laughter again as they began to walk once again.

The pair continued to push forward for several more hours, enjoying the sights and sounds of the blue night time. They walked until they grew sleepy again. The Doctor's pain had gone away and neither of them had really gotten enough sleep. They both were more than ready to rest when they finally stopped once more.

The rock they found this time was smaller than the first one and half of it slanted towards the swamp, unlike the previous one, but it was solid, dry, and large enough for the two of them to sleep back-to-back. The both slept peacefully, even squeezed closely together. Even the Doctor was able to rest despite his fever; he found that the freezing cold helped to ease his fever a bit, like a natural ice pack. Still, it was bitterly cold and both Rose and the Doctor found it uncomfortable when they were awake. Their coats, however, helped, Rose wearing hers wrapped tightly around her body and the Doctor using his as a blanket.

A slow, creeping tentacle eased up and around the Doctor's ankle, securing its limp grip. It began to tug ever so lightly, though just barely. The Doctor didn't even notice. He had no idea that he was slowly being dragged across the rock until he woke to find himself waist deep into the mud. At first, he panicked a little until he realized that he wasn't dead and was being pulled very gently.

"Rose," he called. "Rose!" He shook her foot, the only part of her he could reach. "Wake up."

Rose blinked wearily as she sat up. She rubbed her eye a little as she looked around, confused at first, before finally spotting the Doctor.

"Rose, help," he told her.

Rose jumped, fully awake now, and scooted down to the Doctor. She hooked her arms through his and began to pull, but the Doctor's yelps of pain stopped her quickly.

"No, don't pull," he warned her swiftly.

"Why not?" Rose asked, though she had stopped pulling.

"This creature, if I'm correct, tightens its grip and pulls even harder when its prey is pulled. Basically, pull, and there's a good possibility I will lose my leg and I do so love my leg."

"So then, what? What should I do?"

"Just hold me," he smiled a little at the thought, seeing Rose's reaction.

"Doctor!"

"No, I'm serious though, just keep me from slipping in even further. This creature very slowly pulls its victim into the swamp, so slowly that the victim usually doesn't even know it's been had until its head is in the swamp and its drowning. But that also means that this creature's pull isn't very strong and isn't that hard to oppose. If the prey just…latches onto something to stop itself from going any further and doesn't try to pull itself up, the creature never figures it out. Rather stupid really, but handy for those who figure it out before it's too late."

"What if you're wrong and it decides to pull? You'll be sucked right under."

"Rose, trust me, it won't. It doesn't want to draw attention to itself, and that's what would happen if it pulled. And if you're worried about your strength, don't be. The creature gets a good feel for its prey's weight and adjusts its pulling force accordingly," he smiled wryly. "It's a good thing I'm skinny."

Rose shifted her position so that she was sitting upright, cross-legged, and set the Doctor's head in her lap, though her at least one of her hands remained around his upper arm. The Doctor sighed, being forced to lie on his stomach.

"How long will we have to keep this up?" Rose stroked his head with her free hand.

"Sun up," he replied quietly. "We just have to wait it out. It retreats deep into the mud at day break."

She looked at him critically. "It's freezing though. Are you sure you can make it until then?"

"No, but there's nothing to do about it. We just have to wait."

"But…won't you get chilled?"

"Possibly. But I have to risk it. Still, I have a ways to go before I'm chilled. And keep in mind that I have a fever," he looked up at her face. "It might temporarily cancel each other out."

Rose smiled a little and chuckled. "I don't think it works like that. Feverish people still catch chills. Even I know that."  
The Doctor shrugged, but he was smiling. "Well, I can hope."

The night continued on. The Doctor fell into a restless sleep soon after lying awake for an hour or so. He not only felt horrible, but his leg was aching and his body stung. Rose, on the other hand, found she couldn't sleep. For one thing, she wasn't really tired anymore, having gotten enough earlier. The other thing that kept her alert was the Doctor. She told herself that she wouldn't let him be taken by a creature if she could help it, especially if it was one she couldn't even see. Of course, she began to think that it wouldn't be the creature that would kill him after he began to shiver a few hours later. She retrieved the coat he had been pulled out of and tucked it around the half of his body on the rock as best she could. It helped, but not enough; he continued to shudder and shake even as the light rose in the sky, casting long shadows all around and causing the lighted geckos and other night creatures to retreat to their hiding holes.

She was still watching the sun rise in reverence and awe when she heard a splash come from the swamp and felt what little tension was on the Doctor's body disappear. She looked to the glittery water just in time to witness a swish of water splash as a tan something withdrew into the water and a dark shadow just underneath the surface retreat into the murky depths of the mud. She smiled a little when she pulled the Doctor tentatively and felt no resistance. She then scrambled up the remainder of the rock, tugging the Doctor along with her, laying him on the rock and out of the swamp. His whole lower half was dark with muck and water, but he looked to be unharmed otherwise.

He stirred as he felt himself drag across the rock. His eyes opened ever so gently and he looked up to Rose drowsily, "Morning?"  
"Yeah," she smiled. "We made it."  
"Yeah," he smiled lopsidedly. "We did."  
"How's your leg?"

He rubbed the leg with an indent around ankle. "Cold, sore, but still attached."

"That's good," she paused. "How are you?"

"Been better," he sat up and looked around, surveying the sights. "Early morning, must be. We should get going."

"So soon?"

The Doctor stood, pulling his trench coat on. "Staying won't help. We have to keep moving."

Rose nodded and sighed, standing up beside him and dusting off her pants. "I guess so."

The Doctor smiled at her. "Thanks."

"For what?" she looked back at him, confused.

"Last night. You stayed up the whole time didn't you? Just to make sure I was going to be okay, right?"

"Yeah, I did," Rose smiled. "How'd you know?"

"Just knowing you. And since you were still awake when I woke, it was kind of obvious. So, again, I say, thank you."

"It's not a problem. I couldn't just let that thing have you, could I?"

The Doctor chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose not," he sighed. Then, he paused before saying, "I know I've said this before, but I'm so glad we met."


	12. Ch 12: Fight

Rose didn't say anything when she noticed that they Doctor's eyes were lighter still while his rash was darker. She also didn't mention that he continued to sweat as he shivered, and she definitely didn't bring up that she noticed he was limping, even if it was slight, favoring his left, and uninjured, leg. She guessed that he was fully aware of all these things and thought it best if she left it unstated. He didn't need her knowing that she knew. He was worked up enough.

The second day seemed harsher than the first, especially on the Doctor. Not only did he not sleep well the previous freezing night, but they spent more time out in the heat the second day. The mud caking his lower body didn't help either. Still, no matter what the reason was, analyzing it didn't help the Doctor make it through any easier.

"How's your head?" Rose asked suddenly.

The Doctor looked up at the midday sun through the trees. "Better, much better. Just throbbing a little now. Right here," he put his fingers on his forehead. "Still, much better than last night."

"Too bad we don't have some aspirin."

The Doctor looked at her suddenly, a little worry on his face. "I don't care much for aspirin."

"Well it would help, yeah?"

"Not really."

"Sure it would. It would ease the pain. Too bad I don't have any. Although…come to think of it, I can't say I've ever seen any in the TADIS…"

"There's a good reason for that."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Aspirin and I don't get along."

"Huh?"

"It's…toxic to a Time Lord," he looked back to the horizon. "I know many who were assassinated that way."

"Oh…," she paused. "So, how's your chest?"

"No pain. It feels fine, like nothing ever happened to it."

"What about your leg? How's it feel?"

"What are you? My mom?" he snapped, looking sharply at her.

"No! I'm just concerned is all! You look horrible and you're limping! I think I have reason to be worried."

"Yeah, well…that thing last night had quite a grip upon my lower appendage."

"How'd it get such a tight grip anyhow? I would think you'd notice."

"Slowly, Rose. Slowly. That creature does everything gently, so much so, that it's usually unnoticed. And by the time it's tight enough for you to notice, your limb is asleep and you have no feeling in it anyway. Pretty clever, actually."

"Good thing you woke then."

"I'm a lucky man," the Doctor smiled a little.

"Always have been," Rose grinned back.

The Doctor nodded. "Yep, that's me."

"What about the rest? Your headache and such. What was that then?"

He sighed. "I dunno. Not a native to the swamps, that I can say for sure. I've never heard of a thing that can do that here, on this planet. Other planets sure, of course, but not here."

Rose looked around a little before changing the subject. "So, how much longer until nightfall then?"

"Not long, look," the Doctor pointed out through the trees. "Animals are starting to come out. Nightfall is just around the corner."

The giraffe-like creatures were poking their heads into the tress, although the scattered when they noticed that the Doctor and Rose were watching them.

"Thank goodness," Rose sighed. "I'd take the cold nights over the scorching hot days any time."

The Doctor grinned and nodded. "I second that."  
After they saw the creatures retreat back to the safety and cover of the forest, the pair continued to move along, watching as various other things as they began to crawl out and into the open air. Everything was going smoothly until a menacing growl, something like the growl of a lion but with a dragon-sounding edge to it, stopped them cold in their tracks. Rose and the Doctor looked at each other, but neither turned around.

"What was that?" Rose whispered. "A poce?"

"No," the Doctor replied just as quietly. "Poce are sleeping at this time of day…or night…or…whatever. Point is, they're sleeping now. They only come out during the heat of the day, which I find rather daft, but I'm not a poce. As soon as the temperature begins to drop, they hunker down for the night. They would never be out this late. Way past their bedtimes."

"So…what was that then?"

"I dunno."  
Both turned around very quickly this time when they heard the roar again, closer than it was before.

"Where's that coming from?" the Doctor asked no one in particular.

"I don't know. I can't see anything," Rose answered all the same.

The roar erupted through the trees along with a creature this time, the beast leaping up onto a nearby rock right in front of the two.

It stood tall on the rock, its pointed claws out and digging into the rock and its teeth bared, long canines grabbing most of the fading light. The body was feline, strongly resembling a lion. It stood on stocky, sturdy legs with muscles rippling underneath, and large paws, all flexing their sharp, silver claws. Its head was some cross between a lion and dragon, as would be expected by the roar it produced, its nose being pointed and scaly and slowly turning into a furry lion's head. It had a bit of a mane, but it wasn't nearly as thick as a normal lion's nor did it cover as much, just barely covering up the top of its neck, draping over its shoulders a bit, but that's where it stopped. The mane never even reached its chest. Curved, pointed horns came up from its head just in front of the rounded ears while silver spines, spines matching the color of its claws, ran from its horns all the way down to the tip of its tail. It had red markings that closely resembled tribal markings and stood out bravely against its almost-black blue body. Its yellow eyes stared out at Rose and the Doctor, regarding them with contempt and hunger as it snarled again.

"Doctor…what is that?" Rose involuntarily gripped his arm.

"I don't know," the Doctor admitted. "I've never heard any stories about such a thing. Although, I can see why. That thing looks something fierce."

The creature roared again, causing the two to take a step back. Still, they kept their eyes on it.

"How about we just call it scary and leave it at that, hm?" the Doctor looked eagerly at Rose, nodding a little.

"Yeah, I'm good with that," she nodded back. "A big, scary, beast of a lion. I can go for that, yeah!"

As the creature took a step forward, the Doctor and Rose turned and bolted, running as fast and as best they could, given the circumstances. While they sloshed through the mud, bogged down by the sucking force, the creature had no problems moving in the muck, bounding effortlessly after them. It chased them through tree after tree, around and over rock after rock, always snapping and reminding them that it was right on their heels.

"We can't out run it!" Rose called to him. "It's too fast and it's adapted to this swamp. There's no way to out run it."

"I know," the Doctor growled. "I just need something. Something to scare it off. I don't want to harm it, just spook it a little. But what?" he ruffled his hair with both hands as the continued to run. "What, what, what? What could scare this thing?"

His eyes went to the swamp and widened for a second. He mumbled something to himself before plunging his hands down into the swamp below, stooping as he continued to run. His hands passed the watery layer down into the mud part. Scooping up two handfuls, he squashed them together as he brought his hands up out of the swamp. Casting a quick glance behind him, he threw the ball at the beast, hitting it square between the eyes, blinding it.

"Nice shot!" Rose exclaimed watching it try to wipe off the mud with its paw, slowing down and basically stopping.

"Keep going!" the Doctor urgently scolded. "I doubt I stopped. In fact, I know I didn't. I just bought a little time and a very temporary lead. If anything, I just succeeded in making it angry."

The Doctor's guess was correct again. After much shaking of its head and swiping at its face with its paw as well as its tail, it finally got enough mud off that it could see again and its eyes fixed straight on the now-distant duo. It growled, gave a roar, and chased back after Rose and the Doctor with vengeance.

The Doctor and Rose leapt onto a large rock, pausing only for breath. To their dismay, they saw that the creature was still advancing, and fast.

"What are we going to do now?" Rose wondered. "Too bad neither of us carry guns."

"Well, even if we did, doesn't mean we'd us them," he absently replied.

He was already looking around him, calculating the options, such as they were. Still, he saw nothing of use. Everything was too big or not sturdy enough. But just when he was about to concede, he saw something that made his eyes light up and a grin creep across his face. A thick branch poked out of the swamp, sticking up just within the Doctor's reach.

"Must've been a main branch," he noted, grabbing a hold of it and pulling. "I can hardly see any minor branches being this thick." With a moist, smacking sound, the branch dislodged from the swamp, nearly sending the Doctor sprawling onto his back. He grinned. "Oh yes! Perfect!"

He pulled out his sonic screwdriver, pointing it at the thinner end of the branch and shining the blue light onto it, his face squinting as he concentrated.

"What are you going to do?" Rose asked, her eyes shifting nervously from the creature to the Doctor and back again.

"I'm trying to light it on fire!" the Doctor looked quickly up at Rose and then back down to his screwdriver. "I have a feeling that these creatures don't see fire very often and most creatures, primitive or not, are afraid of the unknown."

"Can you really do that?"

"I think so. If I can create enough friction of the molecules in the branch, then it should ignite."

"Well, I hope it does, and quick! That scary lion thing is coming. Fast!"

The Doctor looked up and saw that the creature was indeed, coming fast and closing in quickly, heading straight for the Doctor himself.

"Come on!" the Doctor urged the sonic screwdriver, his hand tightening on the device as the creature drew even closer. "Come on!"

The creature advanced closer still, growling and roaring, fuming at the busy Doctor, coming close enough for its eyes to be clearly seen. It leapt into the air, its claws extended and poised, coming down towards the Doctor. At the last possible moment, a large stick caught the beast horizontally in the mouth, stopping its assault and forcing it back down to the ground with a heavy thump just short of the Doctor. The Doctor pushed the stick deep into the corners of the creature's mouth, keeping the snarling thing at bay. It even tried swiping at the Doctor, but its shorter legs missed, causing it to lose its balance and twisting the branch along with the Doctor's arms as well. Still, the Doctor held on to the button of the sonic screwdriver and continued to try and ignite it, the glowing end pressed against the branch as his hand complexly twisted around to keep it and the branch in his grasp. The beast growled and lunged forward, pushing the Doctor back. The Doctor's foot slipped on the edge of the rock and he fell back, landing in the mud and smashing his head into the trunk of a nearby tree. The shining teeth gnawed and chewed on the branch and bark at the back of its mouth as the creature's head advanced on the Doctor, its weight bearing down on him and forcing him further into the swamp while he still clung to the sonic screwdriver, desperately trying to create a spark and set flame to the branch as he continued to blink away the black spots in his vision, though his mind kept telling him that it was too wet and would never start.

Just before the Doctor's head submerged, the branch sparked, just for a second before flickering to life, weak at first, but quickly growing in intensity until it resembled a wooden torch. The creature's eyes jumped to the flame, fixed on it. For a moment, it just stood there, watching, and then it quickly removed its mouth from the branch and backed away slowly as the Doctor struggled onto his feet.

"You like that, huh?" the Doctor taunted, swishing the first back and forth in front of the creature. "You like that? No? Well then back away," he thrust it at the beast.

It scrambled over the rock backwards, completely ignoring Rose, and as soon as his hind feet hit the swamp again, it spun around and raced away from the fire, looking back occasionally.

Rose watched the creature just as the Doctor did, but she looked back in time to notice the Doctor's exhaustion and run up to him just as the his knees buckled and he began to fall.

"I got you," Rose stated, catching him under his arms and keeping him from the swamp. "I got you."

"This seems familiar, only last time, it was the other way around as I recall," the Doctor grinned a little. "I caught you, remember?"

"Yeah," Rose smiled a little. "In New New York, in the hospital with the cat nuns, yeah? That what you're thinking?"  
"That's it."

"I bet I didn't weigh this much though."

"You'd be surprised."

"You calling me fat?"

"…No. I believe I'm calling myself thin."

Rose chuckled a little. "Well, you are that."

Her smile faded though as she looked over the Doctor, or what she could see of him. She bit her lip when she saw the back of his head was damp and dark, tinted in red, and he had a rather large gash imbedded in his hair. She knew he had hit his head hard on the tree, but she didn't know it would do that. She looked at the tree, and then she saw that the tree's bark was rough and stuck out in weird shapes and places all over.

"You're bleeding," Rose told him.

"Scalp wounds always," he took a deep breath as pain wafted over him, "look worse than they are. I'm fine. Really."

"But even the wound itself looks horrible. And you're bleeding. Bad."

"It'll pass. It's nothing."

"I don't care what you say, that's a bad injury. You hit your head really hard on that tree. I heard it. I saw it."

"Yeah," the Doctor's free hand wandered to the back of his head briefly before he let it drop to his side again. "But I can still walk on my own. I don't need help from you."

"Doesn't matter, I'm giving it to you anyway. You do need help every now and again, and this is one of those times no matter how much you protest," she hoisted him up, his arm around her neck and over her shoulder, her other arm supporting him around his waist. She paused to look at him before smiling and stating quieter, "You were really brave though. Stupid, maybe, but definitely brave."

"Yeah? You think so?"

"Yeah, I do. Thank you," she gave the wrist she was holding a little squeeze. "You were fantastic."

He smiled weakly, appreciating the compliment and assurance. "Yeah…I suppose I was, wasn't I?"

He wouldn't dare mention anything to Rose, but his head was throbbing horribly, though it was perfectly understandable and expected. He had felt his wound, and to him, it didn't feel all that bad, but he had hit his head really hard. That much he was certain of. He was sure he recalled hearing a small crack when he smacked his head but admitted it could be paranoia. If he could just lie down and rest, let it pass, he knew he'd pull out of it. But out here, that was not an option. Keep moving forward as long as you can, that's the rule in this swamp. It had served them well so far. He still found himself thinking a sobering thought: Rose was the reason he would pull through. Without her help, he probably would've just laid in the swamp and died. He found himself thinking once again about how glad he was that they had met.

They continued to press on even as the darkness began to fall over the land. The brilliant blue sun set was up in the sky now, setting a calming mood for the evening. Even so, they were on edge, having failed to find any reprieve or hope yet, feeling rather desperate and a little depressed. They just kept moving forward, hoping for a miracle.

Rose perked as she spotted a shadow in the distance, a shadow unlike any she had seen so far in this swamp. Odder still, she was nearly certain she saw light coming from the shadow, and she knew that it was too early for the bugs or geckos since the sun hadn't even completely disappeared yet. Other than that, the light coming from the shadow wasn't blue but rather more of a softer yellow.

"Doctor, look," Rose shook him a little and pointed ahead to the large, square shadow highlighted by the dying light.

"What's that?" he tilted his head. "It looks like…a house?"

"Maybe it is. Sure looks like it. And if it is, maybe there's someone living there that can help us."

"Maybe give us shelter at the very least," the Doctor nodded.

Their spirits lifted, they picked up their pace, going for their hope as fast as they could. And their optimism was only strengthened as they grew closer and saw more features of the mysterious shape.

It was definitely a house, they could see that now, raised up on stilts to keep it high out of the muck. The front facing the two was square, though the roof was obviously domed. Even at a distance, it was very clear that this house was formed out of sturdy wood, possibly from nearby swamp trees, and that it had been there a while, enduring harsh weather and other conditions. There were a few steps leading to the porch which Rose helped to guide the Doctor up when they reached them.

"Hello?" Rose called, pounding on the door and racking into the Doctor's ears, only helping to worsen his headache. "Is anyone in there? Hello?"  
Her heart leapt as she heard the door knob turn. She held her breath as the door opened and a shadow covered her and the Doctor.

"Please, can you help us?" she looked at the Doctor, his head hanging. "Please?"

She only hoped whatever stood before her was friendly.


	13. Ch 13: Clade Imace

"Thank you so much for all of this," Rose smiled to their host as he returned from the bathroom, or the equivalent of such.

"No problem," he smiled warmly. "Sorry I didn't react quicker. You two just took me by surprise," he knelt down by the Doctor, who was sitting on the couch. "Now, let me see the wound."

The Doctor turned the back of his head to him. "I'm sure we did. I wouldn't imagine you get too many visitors out here."  
"Very true. It's pretty much just me out here, other than the occasional mail ship," their host answered after he sucked air sharply in when he saw the Doctor's wound. "That's pretty bad."

"That's what I said!" Rose agreed.

"_Anyway_," the Doctor said loudly, "you sure of what you're doing there?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," the host replied as he dipped a furry finger into a small bottle.

"Not going to scramble my brain are you? 'Cause it's been said my brain is my best quality."

"No, no, I'm going to do nothing of the sort. This salve is completely safe. This is a compound with profound healing abilities. It is made out of the sap from one of the trees in this swamp. Ironically, I believe it was the same kind of tree your head smacked into, judging by the shape and depth of the wound."

"Really?" Rose cocked her head and chuckled a bit. "That is rather funny."

"Haha," the Doctor noted dryly as the liquid was spread onto his wound. He was smiling a little though. Then he winced. "That stings a bit doesn't it?'

"Yes, it does, especially on deep scalp wounds. Or any deep wound for that matter. Oh, my. Where are my manners?" the host said suddenly. "I'm treating your wound and I haven't even introduced myself," he smiled, taking a small bow. "I'm Clade Imace."

"I'm Rose," Rose held out her hand. "Rose Tyler."

Clade blinked his eyes at the gesture, titling his head. Then, he gingerly took the hand. Rose shook it, smiling and getting Clade to smile too.

"And I'm the Doctor," the Doctor threw in.

"Doctor who?" Clade looked to him.

"Just the Doctor."

"Surely you have a name that's more than a title."

"Please, just the Doctor will do. Nothing more."

"Well…okay then. The Doctor it is."

Rose hadn't been too sure about Clade and his intentions at first, but in all fairness, he hadn't been too sure of her and the Doctor either. When they had first shown up, it took a while for him to react. He really just stood there dumbly and stared at them. No doubt he thought he was hallucinating. However, Rose had finally managed to snap him out of his trance. She explained to Clade how they had been traveling around the swamp for a couple of days and how her friend, the Doctor, was sick and injured, not that it was difficult to see this fact. She made sure that Clade knew the Doctor had been traveling through the swamp ill. Clade had been worried that she too had been injured, but she assured him that she was fine and that was no lie; she really was completely unharmed. Once he had come back to reality, he quickly ushered them inside his cozy home.

He had then offered them clean and dry clothes. They weren't quite what the Doctor would've preferred, but he took them anyway because they were dry and better than sitting around naked. Both were given pajama-like pants, dark in color. Rose's shirt was dry and clean, so she stayed in it, but the Doctor had given all his clothing to Clade for washing, including his shirts and jackets, but since Clade didn't wear shirts, he had nothing to offer the Doctor except a brown blanket. Still, Clade told him that he would clean his undershirt first so he wouldn't have to sit around half-naked under the blanket longer than he had to. The Doctor was grateful for his thoughtfulness.

They hadn't really gotten a good look at Clade until now, as he treated the Doctor, because he was constantly in motion. His muzzle looked nearly like a horse while the bridge of his nose was long and broad. Unlike the front of his skull, the back looked similar to a dog's, though it had long feathery ears, each sitting high and perked, sprouting up behind his golden eyes. The lower half of his muzzle was a light tan, the top a soft, middle grey that matched the rest of his main body color. There was a dark ginger frock of hair on his head that swept down his neck and over his shoulders and around to the front like a thin mane. The Doctor found, for a fleeting moment, a twinge of jealousy at the color of Clade's ginger hair. Most of his body was covered in a very short, fine fur with the exception of two V-shaped patches on each of his wrists that resembled a soft, yellow leather. Each of his fingers and toes had small silver nails and his toes had dark grey tufts of fur on the tops of each one. He also had a flexible and fluffy tail which was actually only deceptively fluffy. In reality, it was covered in a stiff fur with a color that matched the fur on his toes, though the tip was ginger matching his hair. The tip looked like it was dipped in paint rather than a natural color, just a splash of color on the drab grey. He stood on two legs which bent like a humans which ended in sturdy, gecko-type feet. The only type of clothing he wore resembled the kind he gave the other two, though they were shorter.

They found he was actually very pleasant once they got him talking, though that had proven a small challenge. He was also very quick and nimble, swinging about the house on the exposed beams using his tail as an extra appendage.

"So, Clade, are you sure that you can get all the mud out of my trench coat?" the Doctor asked as Clade returned from putting the medicine up and checking on his laundry. "I do so love that coat."

"I promise I can," Clad chuckled jovially. "You have my word, when you two see your clothes again, they'll look like new. Possibly better. I have a lot of experience getting mud out of clothes."

"Well, that's no surprise since you practically live in it," Rose noted.

"True. Oh, by the by, I'm working on your undershirt first, Doctor, so you don't have to rely on the blanket as much."

"That's very kind of you, thank you," the Doctor stated. "It would be nice to have a shirt."

"He is ever so modest," Rose chuckled.

"So, if I may ask, whatever brings you two here in the first place?" Clade sat on the floor, handing Rose and the Doctor two steaming drinks. "Certainly not sightseeing I'm sure."

"Yeah, it's not exactly a tourist destination from what we can see."

"But why are you here then?"

"We're looking for some one."

"Or something. Something really," the Doctor added.

Clade's eyes widened. "You two are poachers then?"

"No!" the Doctor and Rose jumped together, causing Clade to shy away a little as though scolded.

"Do we really look like poachers?" Rose asked softer.

"Well, no, not really," Clade shrugged. "But there are plenty of them. And lots of them come here to find new and unusual animals. I just figured that just because I've never seen poachers like you doesn't rule you two out."

"Yes, we're poachers without guns, supplies, maps, training, or any form of information about the planet's environment or inhabitants and wildlife," the Doctor scoffed and pulling the blanket tighter around his body, sipping a bit of the drink. "This is really good by the way. Thanks."

"Hm, true. Didn't think of that. And thanks. It's the best hot drink I can make. Thought you would need one."

"Yes, it is very welcome."

"Clade, if I may ask, what are you doing here?" Rose jumped in. "If this place is as uninhabitable as it seems, why would you want to be here?"

"It was through no choice of mine," Clade shook his head. "I was placed here by my people. Forced here by my people, actually. I would love to be back home, truth be told, but I can't be. So, you make do with what you're given."

"You've done well for yourself all the same," the Doctor noted, looking around a little. "This is a rather nice place you have here."

"Yes, fashioned after the traditional homes of my race," Clade nodded, looking around a bit too.

The house was rounded in the front, where they were sitting. There were some windows in the walls facing the swamp, making it look like a glass ball. Even the ceiling here was a round dome. The couches and seats were in a pit in the middle of the room with a fireplace at the head. The couches were built into the sides of the pit as soft steps. The floor in between the couches was even rounded. The back half of the house, however, where the rest of the rooms, was square. Back behind the dome living room was the kitchen, bedroom, utility room, and bathroom or at least the guests figured as much, though neither really asked. From what Rose and the Doctor could glimpse, the rooms back there were square too. The ceiling and walls had exposed beams, but while things like that were normally frowned upon, these beams were decorative and added to the feeling of the house. Watching Clade swing about and scurry over them, it was easy to understand why he left them exposed, and the carving details on them made them pleasant to look at.

"Why were you put here though?" Rose insisted. "It's such an awful place to land someone. It's not like you can do much research here."

"Why do you say research?" Clade swished his tail.

"That's what I guessed you could be here for. But there's not much to do here that I can see."

"On the contrary! There's much to learn from the animals and planets here. Like the tree with the healing sap. No one even guessed it had that property until I discovered it by chance. But no, that is not why I'm here. That would be too good to be true. Then I wouldn't feel so much like I was abandoned."

"Well then, why are you here?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow. "If it's not research, there's only a few things left."

"I'm an exile."

"Really?"

"What in the world did you do to deserve this?" Rose asked.

"It was a massive accident that I caused. I didn't mean to, really, it just kind of happened. But it cost many lives. Too many lives," Clade spoke softly. "It's my fault. I deserve this, I really do, and I take it. Still, it is tough."

The Doctor's expression turned to one of sober understanding. "It's okay. You don't have to say any more. I understand. I understand completely."

"Do you though? Do you really?"

"Oh yes, I do. More than you know. I know how hard it can be to deal with the shunning of your people."

Clade gave him a gentle, grateful smile. "Thank you."

"Oh, um, I was wondering if you would mind trying to retrieve my ship. We left it in the swamp somewhere when we landed."

"Sure, I can get it for you. What's it look like?"

"It's a big blue box."

"What?"

"That's the best way to describe it. You can miss it. Course, you'll really know it when you see it."

"Oh, okay."

"It's actually rather big. I hope you can carry it."

"Don't you worry about that. I have my ways. I can get it for you."

"Like I said, you'll know it when you see it. It'll look rather out of place, really."

"Alright," Clade chuckled. "I'll go look for it straight away," Clade stood and scrambled up a beam and rest on a cross beam. "Rest assured, I'll find it," he scurried over to the door. "Be back in a jiffy."

Then he swung out the door, closing it behind him.

"Bit of a fruitcake," the Doctor noted. "Bit of a squirrelly fruitcake really."

"You're one to talk," Rose laughed. "You and him are a lot alike."

"Gee, thanks," he chuckled too.

"He's nice though."

The Doctor, who had suddenly gotten lost in thought, just grunted his response.


End file.
